


Hero And Fighter

by EXPNewLight (ex995)



Category: Dungeon Fighter Online (Video Game), 盾の勇者の成り上がり - アネコユサギ | Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari | The Rising of the Shield Hero - Aneko Yusagi
Genre: F/F, F/M, Harems
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:08:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 72,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27868153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ex995/pseuds/EXPNewLight
Summary: Certainly, getting summoned with 3 other Japanese young adults was a surprising thing... but the main question was, why did he keep encountering things that reminded him of the main game he played? (Standard Harem Warning) As usual, the average chapter length of around ~2500 words, sans reviews.
Relationships: Iwatani Naofumi/Harem
Comments: 35
Kudos: 45





	1. Summoning Of The Shield Fighting Hero

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: Another fanfic chapter… this time for an unexplored crossover between two works with barely any fics in the archives.

("Human/Speech")

(" _Thoughts"_ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names/Sounds)**

(‘ _Other/Foreign Speech’_ )

_(Actions/POV)_

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 1**

**_Die Heldengeschichte Bookstore: Japan (????)_ **

**_June 25th, 2016: 1323_ **

_Third Person: Omni_

**Ping.** The sound tone of a notification on his phone was the only real sound in the small bookstore that he was browsing through. He looked around a bit to see if anyone had heard and were disturbed from their shopping or reading. No disapproving looks from around was a pretty good sign that he did not bother anyone by accidentally not putting his phone to silent.

He moved to swiftly bring it out as quickly mute it as soon as he found the lower volume button on the phone. He swiftly checked what the message was about, though he was far more interested in the books around him than what the message probably contained. He quickly unlocked it and pulled the messaging app.

_‘Come on Big Bro, the raid starts today and we need your Crusader to get through it, the other two already confirmed that they are on board.’_ Was the message that was laid across the screen, the most recent one in fact. His little brother bothered him quite often to play with them as the supporter class. Even with the event starting then he wouldn’t have time to help all that much considering that he needed to study when they would be online. He simply replied that he couldn’t before stowing away his phone in his pocket and looking back at the shelf in front of him. He quickly noticed a strange book in the midst of all the others. A worn leather spine really contrasted to the uniform sheen of the other books on the shelf. It was a velvet red that was used on it while the spine had illegible writing in gold.

“Interesting…” The black-haired college student mumbled to himself as he carefully pulled the piece of literature out of its tight-fitting space. The cover was worn and a bit battered, but it was in good shape for its seemingly old age. Kanji were written on it in an extensively faded gold, making the writing itself barely even legible. **The Record Of Four Holy Weapons** is certainly a strange name for a novel. It would be far more fitting for the name to be in some kind of mythical blacksmithing section.

“Let’s see…” He silently opened the book, there was no summary inside, though that made sense with the sense of age the book itself held. A strange font greeted his eyes, while not quite as unique as handwriting, it was fairly irregular when compared to the standard fonts that he used in his college papers. But the strange part about it was how machine-like the lettering was.

“There are four legendary weapons that choose four legendary heroes…” It would seem that the covers had absorbed the majority of the abuse that the book found itself in, the pages are neat and clean with all the kanji being clear in contrast when compared to the slightly yellowed pages.

“Hey boss, how much for this book?” He closed it to be in line with the rules of the store. Though he had a bit of leeway due to being a regular here, he did not want to strain the goodwill with the store owner.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)__

**_Naofumi’s Apartments: Japan (????)_ **

**_June 26th, 2016: 1600_ **

After a few hours of studying in his room, he lays down on his mattress in mental exhaustion. For some reason, today’s work had been much harder than usual to deal with. It took a few minutes before he looked over at his laptop and the backpack that held the worn book he had bought from the book store, which now that he thought about it was really fitting to find in from what little german he knew from the store owner. He looks over to his bookshelf filled in light novels and manga, debating on what to read in order to relieve his mental exhaustion.

“May as well read it.” He remarks as he finally stands up to walk over and read the book. Humming to himself a familiar tune to himself while replacing the laptop into his bag while withdrawing the book from within while resting it on his leg. Making sure to have the two screens of the desktop pc off to save on some power.

“To the wind of you.” He mumbled out some lyrics as he finally sat on the chair to his desk. He would spend several minutes engrossed in the fairly standard fantasy novel all things considering. Four weapons, the shield, sword, bow, and spear choosing their wielders to save the world from a prophecy of destruction via monsters that spawn in waves. The princess was practically a psychopath who wanted all the heroes infighting while the world could be destroyed from it was nicknamed bitch in his mind as he read.

The summoned heroes all had descriptions that slowly developed in his head, the swordsman was active and strong, the bowman was heroic, and the spearman was the most loyal of the bunch… but it was not shown all that well considering how the princess meddled with their affairs. The strange thing was when it finally reached the chapters about the shield hero… all the pages were blank.

“Wait why is it all blank?” He quickly flipped the pages and found the rest of the chapters had nothing written within either, it had no sign of being faded or water damaged in any capacity either. Around him, a glow started to form, unnoticeable at first but started to grow strong enough for him to notice the change quite quickly if he hadn’t already felt his consciousness fading.

“Wait what-” Was all he could say as his consciousness faded, disappearing from the world with his backpack in tow… the missing posters that showed up afterword lasted only a few months before everyone but his close ones forgot.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Castle Summoning Room: ???? Castle: Kingdom of ????_ **

The world around them was strange, a stone chamber is being used as the summoning place for the four Japanese individuals standing in a row when they regained consciousness. Besides the altar standing infront of them, they all noticed the robed individuals that stood in a circle around them. The labored breaths of the individuals were quite noticeable, even as the one in the center, the leader presumably, stepped up to speak. As they noted the weapons attached to them

“Please save this world heroes!” Was the voice of one of them… it was actually a young female’s voice that came through to them, though they could not exactly see the appearance of the lady due to the hood covering her face in shadows. But the other three already were up in arms about the questions they would ask, but to the experienced eye, they were all excited to be here.

“What do you mean by that?” The young looking teen with the bow asked as they tested the drawstring, with Naofumi being at the other end of the line. Another hooded figure quickly pushed the original leader out of the way, his own face coming into view as he hurriedly pushed the female leader away. Though Naofumi caught a glimpse of her lavender hair and amber eyes for the brief second of sudden movement.

“That question has a long and complicated story behind it, but in short we summoned you, the four cardinal heroes, using an ancient ritual.” Was his reply to the question, the black robes with golden accents fitted to all of them, but its sleeves fell due to gravity, exposing his arms.

_“Four cardinal heroes? Does he think us beings of that legend?”_ Was Naofumi’s thoughts as he made observations of the rest of the robed figures, all of them men besides the lady that was pushed aside. The other three paid no mind to the lady as she stumbled slightly to regain balance, all their attention is spent on the man who pushed her aside.

“Our world teeters on the brink of destruction, please help us, brave heroes!” He was expressive in the request, with all of the robed figures nodding. Naofumi turned his gaze back to the man after making sure that the lass recovered from the sudden push away from her original position.

“Well, I guess I could hear you out-” Was all Naofumi could get out, as expressions of subtle distrust appear on the faces in the back, with the man in the lead showing no change in his, before the other heroes decided to speak up.

“I refuse.” The first words the black haired teen with the sword spoke was that of denial for their request. His face is neutral as he spoke.

“Likewise.” Was the second response of refusal that came from the heroes’ side, this one coming brown-haired teen, and now that Naofumi turned, he could see their golden eyes and androgynous face.

“We can return to our world, right? We will talk about our problems after that.” Was the comment from the tall blond spear wielder. The spear leaned onto his shoulder as he acted like it naturally belonged there… as in kind with his own realization of the shield that is attached to his right arm feeling gradually more natural by the second.

“Don’t you feel any guilt for bringing us to this world without consent?” The first refuser walked forward a step before pointed the legendary blade at the robed figures, flat side to the air above.

“And when we leave this world after it has gained peace we will have gained nothing for our efforts.” From the androgynous burnett comment, Naofumi thought what they are saying is a bit of sense. Along with the more emotive of the cloaked individuals beginning to shuffle a bit nervously.

“How willing and far are you going to accommodate us?” The blond spearman asked as well. Naofumi thought they were good actors… or were quite the illusioned individuals.

“Depending on the answer, we might just be your enemies.” Is what he finished up with… but the thought of going against them without any combat experience was a daunting thought for the university student. Besides, they could resummon the heroes at any time they like. But he was slightly impressed at the running gate demands and talk about rewards from them.

  
  


“F-first we would like to bring you to the king of our country, Melromarc.” The leading man stepped forwards to them as he tried to defuse what he thought was the hero’s anger. From what Naofumi saw from the other three otherworlders, he knew that they felt pleased with how the events have proceed.

“Then we can discuss the rewards after.” Was the closing statement of the robed man. The robed figures all made expressions of relief 

“Fine, I guess.” The lowering of the sword was what the black-haired swordsman in blue did after remarking on the answer to their demands.

“I suppose we could consider the offers that you have.” Was what the brown-haired individual of ambiguous gender stated as the pair walked forward with unconcerned steps, giving a swagger to their walk… Naofumi could tell they are getting more used to the feel of the legendary weapons as well, though they are not consciously acknowledging it.

  
“Well, It is not like our demands will change anyway.” The pigtailed blond beside him walked forward after them. The male robbed figures quickly lead the way up the stairs. The lady probably will be the last one to exit to close the chamber behind them once they reached the outside world.

_“Sheesh, they are quite confident arnt they… Those stares remind me of something…”_ Naofumi’s thoughts on the other three heroes switched to remembering how the other men looked at him earlier… full of distrust and prejudice.

“You okay?” When he reached the sole female in the room, he decided to ask as quietly as possible, making sure that she is the only one that heard him. She looked over to him in surprise, making Naofumi think that the women of this country were repressed in some way.

“Yes, I am fine.” She responds after a brief moment of being stunned by his caring tone that carried the question. The other hero’s paid no mind to her as from what Naofumi could tell, they were too excited to care and did not show any real personality traits.

“That’s good.” He smiled with a relieved tone on his voice and expression. He could practilcy feel her expressions of surprise. He could actually see her a bit better now, mainly her eyes, from under the hood. Though compared to the other men who he could see the faces of easily.

“You coming?” The rude and calm tone of the swordsman broke up the thoughts about what was happening. He smiled a bit sheepishly at the reminder that they needed to talk to the king. He quickly slung the backpack over his shoulder and caught up to them.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

“We really are in another world.” The light brunette remarked as they walked up the winding stairs from the underground chamber that they were in before.

“We sure are.” The swordsman is the first of the 4 legendary weapon wielders to walk up the stairs. He remarked offhandedly, though Naofumi could not see his expression so far behind the front of the group. But he would assume that the young man would have a bored look on his face.

“What a pleasant breeze… it is kinda what is described in those vacation pitches.” He remarks to himself as he looks out one of the windows as they reach high above the city’s main level.

“Never been outside Japan before?” The brunette asked from their second position in the line of Japanese students. The others all stop and look back at him enjoying the sight. Though they are already at the doorway out of the stairway.

“By the breeze, it should be a standard Mediterranean environment.” The traditional Japanese looking male spoke as he glanced over to the in-game supporter who was still several steps down from them.

“Excuse me for not knowing particular knowledge and vocabulary.” Besides, who actively remembered those terms outside of writers and learning fanatics? He just decided to put his left hand to the back of his head inorder to sheepishly scratch his head.

From the slight rustle of fabric from behind them, he could tell that the mage last out covered an expression of her’s. The reason why he knew it was a smile? The slight giggle that came from her that only he could hear most likely.

_“Someone is watching me with ill eyes huh.”_ When they reach the surface and walk into the sunlight and onto the paved stone ground of the courtyard. Naofumi looked up at the various windows, noting a young woman with red hair observing the group. She was quite pretty in her violet dress, though he could only see a small part of the top.

Word Count: ~2600 words

Date Completed: 12/3/2020

Note: And another fic that was written in the spur of the moment. I hope you all enjoy this crossover…. With my other concurrent chapters in various states of completion as I finish up this author’s note. I do hope to see speculation in the comments… if there are any. It is not like that this has any real presence on either FFN or AO3.


	2. Conversations And Blind Hate

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: Praise the NEET Princess… wait wrong fic. Well, another chapter for this one.

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter Base**

**_Throne Room: ???? Castle: Kingdom of Melromarc_ **

**_5/17/0000: 1600_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“So, these men are the four cardinal heroes of legend.” The old king sat upon his throne, staring at all four of them. His violet robes were of course symbols of his royal stature. His white hair putting him at a fairly old age. Naofumi could feel that the archer relaxed slightly when the king said 4 men.

“I am the king of Melromarc, Alutcray Melromarc XXXII. Heroes introduce yourselves.” He also had the dignity that belonged to only those in power… though he could stand to have less arrogance considering who he is talking to. But Naofumi could at least give him the image of being unbending to even the greatest foes.

“Amaki Ren, 16 years old, a high schooler.” The newly appointed swordsman decided to step up with his introduction first. He holds the sword with both hands, one directly on the blade, it should have cut him but didn’t. Whether it was the blade actively refusing to cut the user, or it was extremely dull to be unable to cut him.

I’m Kitamura Motoyasu. 21, a college student.” The next to step up was the blond, his spear not quite resting on his shoulder as he held it up with his right hand. His smug smile plastered onto his face as he stared directly at the king.

“I suppose that I am next. I am Kawasumi Itsuki, 17 years old, and a high school student.” They moved up in stride after shifting the legendary bow over their heart. Their green eyes stared optimistically at the old man.

“Then I am last. I am-” Before even getting to finish his introduction the king decided to interrupt. But Naofumi could already feel the hate that the king looked at him with.

“I see. Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki huh.” He directly cut him off that way. Naofumi could tell that it was fully on purpose and stopped himself from speaking over the king. It would be far easier for the king to show his true intentions that way. He felt the pleased eyes of the king, not because of being the shield hero… but because he successfully cut off the shielder.

“I suppose I owe you an explanation.” Naofumi took a glance over at the nobles in the room. They hid their thoughts behind the social masks that were developed over the years. He was thankful for the books he read about court manners.

“My country, Melocromac, and the rest of the entire world is heading into destruction.” The king started on his request for the four in front of him, switching to a serious note. It was akin to the book that he had read, a prophecy of apocalypse. Waves of monsters called climates will bring the world to ruin if they were not thwarted.

Each country has an ancient dragon hourglass that predicted when a calamity would occur. The first wave that occurred on this country wrought through the lands, only barely fought through by the local knights and adventurers. Each wave was said to be more potent than the last with the hourglass trickling down till the next wave.

“We underestimated them.” He remarks with a heavy brow, it was only a month till the second wave would occur. He took a breath with his eyes closed.

“We realized once we experienced one that only the Four Cardinal Hero’s could counter them.” All his words flowed into their minds, but Naofumi could feel something was wrong with them, as important information was being withheld from the four.

“So we followed the legend and summoned you.” He could feel the nobles move slightly, but they did not speak infront of the king. He felt that they knew what he was not talking about. Naofumi thought a few moments, what about the other countries?

“We have no time to delay.” Naofumi went through a revelation, it was the exact same as the book… if the facts stayed accurate to the story then an outside party would sow discord among the heroes.

“We have the gist of it. But surely you did not think you could summon us expecting that your salvation would come for free?” Ren was the spokesperson of the group now… though why they collectively decided that he would do so when he was probably antisocial was a fairly glairing mistake in Naofumi’s opinion.

“Of course, once you repel the waves, we shall reward you handsomely.” A sleazy looking man to the side of the king decided to be the one to speak about the compensation. Naofumi immediately noticed the wording… waves in the plural, of course, there would be multiple… but they should have given rewards per wave. But not it would seem that they are trying to get them to help with the calamities for the rest of their lives…

“Will you now? Well as long as we have your word.” Motoyatsu was the one who spoke first, it would seem that all of them did not notice the wording of the agreement.

“We’ll work with you, provided that you don’t turn on us. But don’t think for a moment that you can tame us.” Ren decided to speak up as the second person. Already laying down that they wanted to stay cohesive… sadly Naofumi got the feeling that they would split them up to be mere puppets.

“Exactly, we can’t have you looking down on us.” He almost sighed with how they spoke… full of confidence yet not knowing the landscape or political situation. He was no better, but he would keep to the background till he could find out what situation they were in… especially his own situation. It was certainly a hostile place to him.

“I trust we have an agreement. Heros, you should check your status.” The king finally spoke in agreement… but with how they are scheming, it would seem that they knew that the better hand the deal was theirs.

“Status?” Naofumi asked, it was certainly hard to notice anything about the world when they immediately brought to the king.

“Uh…” At least Itsuki was in the same league as him.

“What’s wrong with you guys? It should have been the first thing you noticed.” Ren was the one to speak. Though that was easy enough for him to say…

“Didn’t you notice the icon at the corner of your vision… focusing on it will bring it up.” Ren seemed like the advice-giver considering that while not talking, the blond was actively looking down in order to even observe the addition to their vision.

“Level 1 huh, that’s worrying,” Itsuki spoke out about their current level while their head tilted down in order to access the status menu. Naofumi didn’t move his head to notice the icon but was still slightly surprised at the sudden pop up in his vision. It was very much like some of the isekai novels he read.

“Yeah, there is no telling if we can fight like this.” Naofumi nodded in agreement as the numbers took his vision, his physical and magic defense was high as well, as expected from the shield that picked him. But that wasn’t saying much when the rest of his stats were 0.

“What’s all this anyway?” Naofumi decided to be the one to ask them, the first time speaking up since he got into the throne room. The other two that discovered their status still engrossed at looking upon them.

“Status magic, an magic that is exclusive to heroes.” The probable minister or king’s right hand spoke about it. It was definitely something that would not have been mentioned in the legend, so it was extremely likely that there were heroes before them.

“So what are we supposed to do?” The blade user seemed to be the most on top of things out of the four. The others felt that question manifest in their minds, though it was only a scant few seconds before the sword of the group asked.

“You must leave on an adventure in order to upgrade and level up the weapons that you have equipped.” Naofumi could already see that the weapons were reduced back square one in terms of utility. His own shield being only able to cover his forearm. It at least had a point to it, so he was to use it as a pile bunker it would do some damage at least.

“They aren’t maxed out of the box huh…” He remarks on the thoughts that come into the others’ mind, voicing out their slight annoyance in not having an easy start.

“Well, even then mine is only a shield.” Even he would feel that he had a bad combat power, inadvertently voicing his own thoughts about the weapon that chose him.

“Couldn’t we wield other weapons till these become usable?” The blond moved through several motions with the spear, getting an even better feel of it. It was as if he had held the things for many years now. Though if that were the case, what was the point of the weapons… there probably is a restriction on what they cloud wield besides the legendary equipment… maybe even disallowing combat with them.

“We can figure it out while we go. Anyway, we ought to train ourselves.” Ren did not do the same thing as the spear user, just observing the sword in his grip. Naofumi did have to give him that, none of them have really experienced live combat.

“We’ll have to level up as much as we can.” The opposite in range of his comments. It would help out… but they could not do it alone.

“Sadly we can’t form a party… I get the feeling that the weapons dislike working together outside of waves.” Naofumi said to the rest of them, causing a help popup to show itself to them, saying that the operation of two weapons together causes an adverse reaction and that it was advised to work separately.

“You will have to recruit and adventure separately.” The governmental official states, though now that Naofumi thought about it… he was talking too much. It was as if he was trying to use the unspoken power of the king. They all nodded, already knowing the explanation behind it from the help menu.

_ “The weapons are translating visual and audio information into Japanese for us I see.” _ He already felt the function made sense, they could have summoned us from across different language barriers, for all he knew, the other three didn’t even speak Japanese at all. It would be good to learn the language manually though.

“Rest up tonight, and set forth tomorrow. We shall be gathering the best of the best to form your parties.” The king finally decided to speak… though Naofumi felt that he would not be getting anyone to party with due to all the hostile intentions that the king glared at him with.

“We have prepared rooms for all of you. Please, come this way.” A young woman with a yellow dress spoke to them. Naofumi felt that it might be the uniform for the maids here, but it just wasn’t as classic as the western maid outfits.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Castle Town: Kingdom of Melromarc_ **

_ Rumors Of The City _

“I hear the Four Cardinal Hero’s have been summoned.”

“All four of them in this country?!?”

“Are they sure about this?”

“Wait that means the Shield Hero is also…”

“Indeed, let’s hope the queen can keep us out of a war.”

“Did you hear about a strange disease that has been happening?”

“The one about demonic left hands? If so I met a woman with it…”

**_Heroes’ Room: ???? Castle: Kingdom of Melromarc_ **

**_5/17/0000: 1800_ **

“I guess you get special treatment when you’re the summoned heroes of legend huh.” Motoyatsu sits on the bed of the room, the chandelier chained to the ceiling hangs high above them, lighting the room in a warm glow… it was still darker than they were used to.

“The girl that showed us here was cute as well.” And Naofumi noted in his mind that the spear user was a horndog, though he is alright at hiding it. The shielder looks outside the window into the dark town from the couch set up right infront of it.

“Our dinner was scrumptious, it tasted usual though.” It did make sense, different cuisine made different tastes. Despite the constant recipes that he cooked, he still had not even scratched the surface of cooking in his old world. Much less a brand new one with different ingredients influencing food.

“Hey, isn’t this kinda like a game?” He decided to remark now that there was not any overt way for the court to do stuff to them, though they probably had spies hidden in the rooms around them, listening in on them.

“You mean it is one?” Motoyatsu looked over at the man on the couch, he could already feel the stares of others from the admission.

“It is exactly like Emerald Online.” He remarks with the spear shrugged over his shoulder… Naofumi could already feel that something was wrong, thoguh it was also going to be hard for the hidden ears to decipher what they were talking about, so that was a plus from all this.

“Are you serious? It is super popular!” He remarks a bit stunned at the admission of the green-eyed man of similar age. Now he knew that something was wrong, there was no such game that came out…

“What are you talking about? It isn’t some online game, it is a console game called Dimension Web.” Itsuki told them from his place on the chair. Another title that Naofumi never heard of… and it was not like he was out of date with gaming trends either.

“You’re wrong, It is a VRMMO, exactly like Brave Star Online.” The only standing man in the room commented his few yen from his place in the room. That admission was definitely out there with the concept of VR games only barely in its infancy… much less being able to handle VRMMOs. It did explain why he noticed the addition to all their visions when they arrived though.

“Let’s sort out our information then. Ren, can we take VRMMO literally?” Motoyasu stood up from the bed, resting the spear on the ground, showing that it was his height exactly.

“Yeah.” Ren also looked a tiny bit interested in why the information was not adding up.

“You guys know what it means right?” Motoyasu asked the other two in the room for confirmation on the matter.

“I think a sci-fi game that I am familiar with explored the concept,” Itsuki remarked while still sitting in their chair.

“We are at the infancy of VR tech over here,” Naofumi remarked from his place on the couch, all observation of the outside halted for now so that he could observe the expressions of his co-summons properly.

“Just to be sure, let’s check our general knowledge. Who is the person on the 100 yen bill? In 1. 2. 3!” They all spoke out jdiffrent names at the same time… the first question was probably to note time periods.

“It seems that all of us are from different Japans.” Itsuki sat back in their chair, after a whole round of fact-checking they figured out just why the information was not matching up.

“Looks like it, they sound nothing alike,” Ren spoke while still standing, motioning his arms for emphasis.

“I thought that we were from different eras but I guess not if they are so different.” They all sigh at that statement. Parallel universes were not an undiscussed topic among the populous, so this confirmed it.

“Why did you three get games about this world…” Naofumi remarked, it was slightly an unfair advantage… till he thought about whether or not he would think of it as a game in the long run.

“W-well I thought it was because you were the shield hero,” Itsuki remarked while leaning their head down slightly. The other two just nodded at the statement. He could already feel their disappointment at the third hero.

“As far as I know, the shoulder class is for losers. No high-level players use it.” The others also nod at the general consensus… this might be why he didn’t have a game to work with.

“Are you sure that it is not because the class was too difficult to master?” Naofumi spoke his thoughts on the matter, the others just gave blank looks, none of them had ever bothered with the knowledge in the firstplace.

“Well, it is real life, so I do expect things different things to come up.” He remarks with a sight. Hopefully, the other three don’t get caught up in the world is just a game mentality… though he got the feeling that Ren was the most likely to fall in that trap.

_ “Well the tank is supposed to thwart attackers anyway, so it would only come up in team play. It would make sense that no players picked a class that relied on a good party.” _ He steps out onto the balcony to look at the city once more as he listened absentmindedly to the conversation of the others.

“Yeah, we were set in rooms of two right?” Itsuki remarked after a little while of conversation. For some reason they were in rooms of two, whether or not it was due to not having prior notice, the maid staff originally prepared one. They only just got another prepped for them.

“I will room with Naofumi then,” Itsuki remarked it would be the second oldest rooming with the oldest and the second oldest rooming with the youngest of the group. Itsuki looks over to the oldest with a slightly distrustful eye, one that Naofumi was familiar with only due to his female friends at conventions they went to.

“Sounds good with me,” Naofumi responded after coming back inside. He opened the door and went out last, with Itsuki leading the way. He made sure to take his bag with him.

Word Count: ~3100

Date Completed: 12/7/2020

Note: Another chapter, and it has been only a day since the last update to any of my fics. I dont know how long I am able to continue this trend though. I might focus on this one cause my muse demands it. Though you could probably tell by chapter length. Hope you enjoyed every one.

Comment Cove:

FFN:

Azure-Star-Dragon: Is Naofumi going to get powers from the other half of the crossover or is it just going to characters and locations popping up?

Reply: Powers will be gained from DFO.

Dcraus: Naofumi x Harem Romnace pairing

Reply: I have no idea how to respond to this… oh well.


	3. Surprise Party

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _Thoughts"_ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_(Actions/POV)_

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 3**

**_Naofumi and Itsuki’s Room: ???? Castle: Kingdom of Melromarc_ **

**_5/18/0000: 0000_ **

_Third Person: Omni_

Naofumi looked through his phone while sitting on the couch, he decided that he would be sleeping on it like a responsible adult. Itsuki slept in the bed already, probably a product of being a good high school student and a good child to their parents.

He knew that the zero signal didn’t affect his offline stuff, and he had quite a few game guides downloaded on there. Though he was mostly looking at their mechanics and cross-referencing it with the shield in order to figure out what he could do. He had the least amount of knowledge of the system that the weapons… no the world ran off of.

“Ho, if it isn’t Shirya cosplaying as Melina.” He remarks at one of the photos he was last sent, a petite woman with lavender hair and amber eyes was messing around with her staff. It was of course a cosplay cause no one in his own world would have such a strange hair color naturally.

“This would be at the summer comiket right?” He was forced into helping the group during the break and everyone decided to cosplay as character avatars. Melina was the group’s and mostly his Enchantress. 

“No please…” Naofumi looked up from his reading after hearing the sudden sleep talking of Itsuki. The rustling of the bed was a loud disturbance of the originally silent room. He quickly understood that the younger of the two was having a nightmare, something that he was far more familiar with than he would like.

“No, don’t hurt me!” Naofumi felt his instincts as a big brother kick in as he heard the distressed breathing and talk of the brunette. Quickly climbing onto the bed, making sure to be careful of fully waking them.

“It is alright, you are okay now… I am here with you.” He soothingly rubbed circles on the younger’s back, paying little mind to the newest discoveries about her. He felt that her nightmare might be on the same level as his little brother’s.

“Good, rest easy, we have things tomorrow.” He remarks in a soft voice as Itsuki slowly calms down to a restful sleep. After several minutes of gentle coaxing, Naofumi sighed in relief at getting her out of the nightmare.

“Bullying probably… Hopefully, she gets good teammates as I can’t accompany her.” He remarked as he once more settles on the sofa. He observed the night sky filled with stars, noting shadows flicking across areas of the castle. The moon was full tonight, brightly shining in the sky.

“I need to get some sleep.” He finishes up on reading on the guide of the Female Slayer’s Sword Master subclass. Quickly setting up an alarm on the phone to wake him up at around the equivalent of 6 am in this world and connecting the large solar battery to it, he went to sleep on the couch.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_???? Castle: Dungeons_ **

A young robbed woman quietly stepped into the dungeons, making sure to hide from the shadows. Illusions engulfed her as she walked past the guards undetected. Sitting in one of the cells was a young woman curled up by one of the walls.

“Come to laugh at me more?” The arrested individual spoke up without moving her head and left the rose-colored hair to cover her features. The robbed figure just looked at her, it would seem that the guards have no sense of keeping their traps closed.

“Are you the one that wanted to be in the Shield Hero’s party?” The rosette immediately looks up to the robbed individual, though she could not make any distinctions due to the illusions that the robbed individual cast, all that she could see were the amber eyes looking down at her.

“Why do you want to know.” She jumped up to the bars, revealing her armor and unfilled sheath. She spoke in an urgent tone, not many knew about the reason why she was imprisoned. The robbed figure tilted her head as she observed the knight.

“Considering that there is a trap laid for him and I am moving to disrupt it. It would be good to see a potential party member.” The robed individual’s voice was garbled yet distinctly feminine. The lady knight looked at the robes once more, it seemed to be an altered version of the mage team’s uniform.

“What? You must free me so that I can fulfill the queen’s request.” She only really heard bout the trap laid to harm the shield hero, she was desperate and hopeful to be free in order to help him. She shook the bars, yet they did not budge.

“No, not yet, you and he are not ready just yet… just hold onto that light and dream of yours, it will do you well whence you fight alongside him.” The knight looked surprised at the mention of dreams… she had the most pressing ones with the young woman that looked almost exactly like her with a white and golden shield.

“Just who are you?” When the robbed figure moved to leave the dungeons, her self-appointed task done, the knight asked the mage for her identity. She stopped herself at the doorway out of the dungeons at the question.

“I am just a traveling mage trying to find a way to save my world. And if you would, never speak of this conversation. The shadows have ears after all.” She spared final a passing glance with her amber eyes one final time to the rose haired swordswoman. Her footsteps making no sound as she moved back to who knows where.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Castle Town: ???? Castle: Throne Room_ **

**_5/19/0000: 0858_ **

The four heroes stood outside the throne room, the large doors blocking them from seeing inside. They were ordered to form a line from oldest to youngest. Naofumi took the time before the reception to look upon Itsuki once more, noting that she is in a far better state than before. 

“Remember, don’t let praise or criticism get to you,” Naofumi spoke to Itsuki in their room a bit earlier, though not about anything really groundbreaking. He was trying to be someone that could be relied on for emotional support… especially when he was probably the one with the most emotional stability.

“What do you mean?” Itsuki looked at the university student, his tone was far warmer than yesterday… what happened last night to have him act like this?

“Cause it can warp you very much… I’ve seen it with authors becoming too arrogant and others that become unable to work on what they love cause they are hated.” He remarks with a sigh. Naofumi knew that it was extremely easy to manipulate the put-down, his own brother was one in fact. They were the only two heroes actively talking to each other, Ren was brooding in the corner and Motoyasu was trying to flirt with the passing maids.

“Why are you giving me this advice?” She asked him with a critical eye, he was the first besides her parents to actively try and care about her.

“You remind me of my younger sibling… though I do want to get to know you better.” He said with a slight smile on his face. They noticed the guard motioning for them to stand in the preordered line so that they could receive their parties.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

“We have gathered the brave warriors who will fight the waves with you legendary heroes.” The two lines stared at one another. Naofumi looked at all of them and got the feeling many of them were incompetent despite the weapons and armor that were fastened to them. They all searched for the weapons on the heroes.

“Now, future companions! Time to begin your journey.” Naofumi immediately knew it was sabotaged as he notes their eyes, pre-choreographed, they all walked towards the ones they were staring at before. When they all looked at his shield, they paid it no mind and immediately went to another hero.

“Wait for a second…” He said aloud to give the king what he wanted. He quickly looked at the party composition of the groups, Ren had the largest amount by far. He could understand the mage, archer, and heavenly armored man, but the one in furs did not work with them at all.

Motoyasu had three girls in his party, a mage, an archer, and a swordswoman. While Itsuki had the other three, two men and one woman. One was in robes, the other armored and the woman was in leathers.

“I have to admit that I was not expecting this.” The king spoke with a cold expression… nothing like how a good king should feel. Naofumi immediately knew from his eyes that he was lying out of his teeth. The king had this orchestrated, along with the redhead in the spear hero’s party. He had seen her when coming out of the summoning chamber after all but did not know what her relation to him was.

“The shield hero must have no charisma to have no volunteers to come up.” The asshole of a minister spoke… what a dumb way to speak up about it considering nobles were watching. Naofumi could tell that he was arrogant, far more than most of the nobles. An aid spoke quietly to the king, he knew it was just an act.

“There are rumors that the Shield hero is ignorant of this world that spread through the town.” The king supplied his supposed reasoning, Naofumi knew that only the king would have known due to his shadows and was the only one who could have had it spread.

“Would any of you like to come into the Shield hero’s-” The king was cut off as a young woman wearing robes stepped through past the nobles on the ground floor. Naofumi looked at her and was immediately shocked at who she was.

“I will join in the Shield hero’s party, my king.” A young woman with lavender hair and amber eyes walked to the behind of the shoulder… he could tell that the king was surprised by the look in his eyes, though not for the same reasons.

“Who might you be?” He demanded an answer but keeping his cool as much as possible. Naofumi also looked back at her and in his peripheral the redhead looking a bit pissed at the sudden inclusion of another adventure.

“My name is Melina, an adventurer that arrived a bit late. For that, I must apologize.” She bowed to the king with a solemn expression… but in the shadow of her hair, Naofumi could see a smug expression on her face.

“I see, I must ask if there is anyone that would like to accompany the Shield Hero?” He quickly passed over the mage. He knew that he had to atleast get the another or the others would get suspicious.

“I will my king.” The redhead from Motoyasu’s party moved into his group.

“Are you sure?” Motoyasu looked at the female adventurer in a bit of longing, it was not nice to have beauties leaving his party.

“It will be fine.” She assuages his worries swiftly, playing the lancer like a fiddle, and all the others could tell quite well.

“Would any others join his party.” The king looked at all of the adventures once more, if they could cohere the mage the plan would go off without any hitches, so he was not worried.

“I suppose that other measures will be taken then. Naofumi-dono, you will have to recruit a party on your own.” The king states in a serious tone.

“We will provide the heroes with the funds required every month. This time, Naofumi will have a larger amount in order to compensate.” The king stated in a noble manner, Naofumi could tell that he was still full of annoyance.

“Here are your funds for the months, Naofumi with 800 silver and the others with 600. Use this to procure the necessary equipment and set forth on your journey.” The king orders them all in a calm manner. The maids immediately walk over to give them the bags of money.

“Yes.” They all spoke in response to the order. Itsuki grew suspicious at the already prepared bags of money… why wouldn’t they have four 600 bags?

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Castle Town: Castle Gates_ **

“One second, I have to say something to the other heroes,” Naofumi said to them as the other heroes trailed behind the adventures, watching the team talk.

“That is fine, we will wait here.” The character he made come to life states with a calm expression on her face. Myne smiled lightly in response, but it fell flat to the other two in the party.

“Itsuki, remember that a party must be balanced and that they must work with you. Do not enjoy one-sided praise.” The hidden female immediately nods at the warning and advice only she could hear. They hit it off quite well and knew each other far better than anyone else.

“Make sure to take care of her.” The spearman immediately remarked, he was talking about the redhead from what Naofumi could gather. The other two were unsuspicious at the king, they did not note the smaller details about what happened in the throne room.

“See you again when the time comes.” Ren remarks with his usual blank expression.

“Stay safe and have good luck with your party.” Itsuki smiled gently at the young man. With all their farewell messages done, they quickly left the castle to catch up to their party members.

“Sir Shield Hero, it is an honor to work with you. My name is Myne Sophia.” She introduced herself in a bubbly manner. If Naofumi wasn’t already used to true cheerful personalities, he would have definitely been fooled by the act.

“My name is Melina, Melina Pandemonium.” Naofumi barely hid his looks at the fully mature body of the spell user. He knew that the battlemage was hiding her true appearance, and that last name was a fake one. He would have to find a way to talk to her alone later.

“Nice to meet you, I am the Shield Hero, Naofumi Iwatani.” He spoke his name for the first time to the world’s inhabitants. Or rather the single native, he knew that the mage was an outworlder. Twice over even.

“Let me show you around Castle Town,” Myne remarked with a kind smile on her face. The lavender rubbed her head, she would not know the town better than Myne, she spent most of her time in the castle.

Word Count: ~2500 Words

Date Completed: 12/11/2020

Note: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. And the reveal of the Neo Awakening for the Female Mage was nice… despite me not being able to play due to computer restraints.

Comment Cove:

FFN:

darkstel: enter the entire list of the harem so that I can understand whether it is worth spending time on your story or not.

Response: Well that is kinda demeaning to the story (and to a lesser extension: me) in all honesty. I can understand if you dislike characters being in the harem and things like that, but I would not like the harem or any single element to define the fic in your eyes. Sides, nothing is concrete besides the extremely obvious characters so I can’t exactly give you a list of the harem… and story-wise it is a spoiler of spoilers to do so. I ask, please give it a chance on its own legs but if you don’t want to spend your time on it, don’t. On another note: if enough of the others voice out the want for a harem list, I will probably do so, though it would be nothing concrete besides established relations in the final product.

AO3:

Aodean: Is Itsuki a girl or just extremely bishounen?

Response: As was noted in the chapter, Itsuki is a girl. Though she binds her chest and consciously keeps her voice lower in pitch. The bullying was worse due to being a girl… As to how Naofumi figured it out? Itsuki left the bindings off in order to sleep better.


	4. Day On The Town

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 4**

**_Castle Town: Merchant District_ **

**_5/18/0000: 1100_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“I caught a glimpse of it last night, but up close it really drives home that I am in another world.” He remarked as the hustle and bustle of the major city grasped his eye, passing several stalls that sold commodities and others that gave entertainment to the passing children.

“What do you think we should do next Sir Shield Hero?” Myne looked over at the young man with a pretty gaze as she walks alongside him. Melina walked a step behind him, mainly to minimize the amount of collisions that could occur on the crowded streets.

“Well, the first thing would be getting equipment, how are both of your equipment’s condition by the way.” He made way for a raptor-like creature with a man riding atop it, probably some kind of wealthy merchant or noble that was allowed to do so within the streets.

“It is practically brand new.” The swordswoman remarks with a cheer. The shield and the mage looked at each other in slight amusement and annoyance, it was probably brand new with no use on them.

“My staff and robes are still good for my level.” The mage remarks with a bit of pep, she was still a generally happy person, despite all that she went through. They hide the glance between themselves as him looking at her for confirmation.

“The main thing that I want to check is what can I equip besides this...” He gestures to his shied as disguised noble runs off to show them the blacksmith’s shop that she knew of.

“Melina, I should also get you a spear. You are level 3 after all.” He was able to see his party’s level through the status magic, though only Melina was truly part of it. She looked at him in surprise.

“So you know who I am?” She keeps her expression became guarded, in this world, she was only known as a court mage after cohering some officials with magic. Other than that, no one knew anyone about her besides showing up around when a wave happened.

“I don’t know from what part of the journey you went through, but I know you extremely well. But that talk will have to be for another time, we have to not look suspicious after all.” She quickly nods in assent, it is paramount that they talk it over. Her expression turns into one of cheerful calm, one that is fake to a person that understood her well.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Erhard Smithy: Castle Town_ **

“I wholeheartedly recommend this place.” Naofumi looked at the equipment that lined the walls, swords, shields, and suits of armor are what greeted his eyes. He was quite enthralled by the store.

“Welcome.” A grizzled man spoke with a grin on his face, despite the scars on his face the cheerful expression did not feel strange on that face. He was bald with a beard and was currently wearing a white shirt with a leather apron.

“Is this your first time in a weapon’s shop? You sure know how to pick’em.” He remarked while placing his gloved hands on the counter. It was also Melina’s first time in an actual weapons shop… majority of the time she got what she needed from enemies and gifts.

“Actually, she brought me here.” Naofumi quickly refuted the compliment on the intuition of his quality in stores.

“Have we met before miss? Why do you look so familiar?” He looked at her searchingly, actively trying to recall who she is.

“I’ve come here shopping before.” She went behind and grabbed Naofumi, trying to be as intimate as possible. Naofumi immediately knew something was strange, along with the blacksmith. He would know regulars and did remember all the people who bought his weapons.

“You’re shop is quite famous after all.” She remarked with closed eyes and a flattering tone.

“Ain’t that nice of ya. By the way, who is your companion in the strange outfit.” He could have meant either the mage or Naofumi, though in the current world he definitely was asking about the shielder.

“Can’t you tell Oyaji?” Myne said with the slightest of teasing in her voice. The smith looked a bit closer at the young man before focusing on the shield that was on the right arm.

“You mean that you are one of the heroes? Ah, I see you have the shield. You must be dud.” He knew that the shop owner was joking. He probably more than any other non-combatant and on par to knights knew just how critical a shield is to a person.

“Well she is the one who picked me, I didn’t have much choice in that regard,” Naofumi said with an exhausted grin.

“I’m Naofumi Iwatani, the shield hero.” He introduced himself with a bow, a habit ingrained from youth.

“Naofumi huh. If you’ll become a regular I don’t give two cents on if you wield only a shield or not. Nice to meet you kid!” Naofumi looked up at the kind man.

“Anyway, Boss can you provide him the needed equipment, around 240 silvers please.” Myne clamps her hands onto Naofumi, even when he knew that it was an act to foster trust to break, it was still a rather pleasant feeling.

“Sure.” He stepped into the back in order to gather some swords. Melina just looks over the various swords in the shop.

“We have iron, magic iron, magic steel, and silver iron in ascending price and order.” He lays down the swords on the table, well maintained and shining with a light coating of oil, the blacksmith was definitely not a stranger to swords. Naofumi tried to pick up the magic steel sword.

**Bzzt** The sword was instantly dropped as if it shocked him from trying to hold it. Naofumi was immediately reminded to the conversation on his first day in the world… so this is why they required to level them up instead of gaining legendary weapons on the way and disregarding the growing ones.

“It would seem my hunch was right despite me hoping it was not,” Naofumi remarked with a sigh and a downtrodden expression.

“What do you mean?” The redhead and weapons dealer asked. Melina just shook her head, bound weapons had a bunch of restrictions that didn’t make any sense. Such as slayers with swords that demanded blood, or certain guns needing a number of hours in prayer every day.

“Cant wield anything besides a shield in with combative intent. I could probably use a knife to butcher an animal, but not use it for combat. And it would outright reject weapons made for combat.” He frowned at the thought.

“How does that even work… It looks like an ordinary small shield.” The bald man kneeled to the ground and looked at it with a monocle that he brought out.

“Does it even move around?” He asks while trying to force it off with a large amount of power, all he did is move Naofumi’s arm around.

“I can manipulate it around my body however I want…” Naofumi motioned for the man to stop before moving his right arm to his back and the shield sticking to it. He moved the shield onto his left shoulder before returning it back to the right forearm.

“That is so weird, it feels like it has a lot of power in it but my appraisal magic can’t tell me much.” He prods at the green gem in the center of the metal shield.

“Well, thanks for showing me something interesting… Want to buy some armor instead?” Naofumi took a glance at the Astarte… no the Neo Battle Mage. She shook her head, it would be best for him to get some armor than getting a spear for her at the moment. She did have her pole, after all, one kept out of sentimentality but still quite usable even if it was made of glass.

“Sure. Let’s see what you have in stock.” It would seem that the smith was also a pretty good leatherworker, though it should not be a surprise.

“Feels like a good fit.” Naofumi remarks as he inspects the Brigandine armor. It added some slash and stab resistance to him, besides the change of 25 points to physical defense, it also changed his MPDef to 15, probably from the leather.

“How much is it?” Myne remarks as Melina observes everything, she was not the most capable of negotiating, after all, no that would be their Paladin, Micheal.

“130 silvers with a discount. And I’ll throw in the inner whare.” He remarks with a grin. 

“While it is more metal than chainmail, it is less work to manufacture right?” Naofumi asked with his rudimentary knowledge about armors honed from the recommended section.

“Yep.” The older man looked a bit surprised, he thought that the otherworlder was not knowledgeable about armors and weapons.

  
“How much would you pay for it?” Myne made sure to ask, a majority of other people not in the know would have just left the conversation at the cost to them.

“About 105 silvers mostly new is what I would pay.” He remarked while leaning on the doorway. Naofumi moved around in the armor to get a better feel for the weight. It would be what DFO classified as Heavy armor considering the plates of metals, Chain mail was considered light armor after all.

“Well take it then.” Naofumi understood why Myne asked for the price he would buy it, it was fairly common in games to sell back older armor.

“Shall we head off for battle now Sir Hero?” Myne asked while Naofumi grabbed his backpack, he would ask if they could make a better version of it with leather once they got the time to. He motioned for her to give him back the bag of coins now that he was done changing.

“No, we need to get a backup weapon for Melina.” Naofumi refuted her quickly, keeping the coins on him.

“Oh, sorry I almost forgot. Why a backup weapon?” Myne asked while looking the mage over. She had the glass rod that could channel magic fine.

“In case they get too close to her or MP runs out.” He states a lie that both of them knew, she was just far more used to a spear than a pole as a battle mage.

“A spear would be best for a beginner user right?” It took a good amount of training to use a bow, sword, or even knives. Spears were the best option to learn with.

“Sure. They are in the same options as the swords.” He quickly brought up several spears onto the counter for the mage and hero to inspect. The illusioned lavender haired lass focused on the two magic ones, she did not spend much time in this world at all and was interested in the magic of them.

“Magic iron good for you?” Naofumi remarked calmly, already knowing the answer as he used the same exact voice when haggling in-game, one that she proudly heard before.

“Sounds good to me, it also makes a good secondary focus.” She quickly affirmed to the spear that he chose. While not as good as the steel, the magic in it was close enough.

“How much is it?” Naofumi asked, already in the haggling mode that kept the group in the black, despite the one who would be buying the most.

“Bout 50 silvers.” He remarks with a grin, Naofumi immediately got the sense that the man was overpricing it a bit, probably to compensate for the discount earlier.

“I say by the market price it should be around 30 silvers,” Naofumi remarked as the mage looked in a bit of surprise at his actions, it was disturbingly familiar.

“I have got to make a living you know, 48 silvers.” He immediately knew that the man infront of him was testing the waters for negotiations.

“Despite the material and craftsmanship, it is still less metal than the swords or armor,” Naofumi spoke with a merchant’s grin. The conversation went on a few rounds.

“So we agree on 40 right?” The smith asked after a minute of haggling from his probable new regular.

“Yep, here you go,” Naofumi spoke as they both gave satisfied smiles. Quickly passing the coins over and putting the bag of it within the backpack that transferred with him.

“Now we can get to the action. Lead the way Myne.” Naofumi spoke while turning back to them once more. He quickly gave the spear over to the specialist, even if she had to hide it till the other could be trusted.

“Sure, let’s go.” She states in a fake cheer that many would not notice if they weren’t actively looking for it.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)__

**_Grasslands: Castle Town_ **

**_5/18/0000: 1230_ **

The bright blue sky with several clouds insight was clear to see in the plain area that they would be grinding in. Naofumi looked across the grasslands to see Ren nearby fighting some orange balls that charged straight at him.

_“So that I what I’ll be facing huh…”_ Naofumi immodestly noted it down in his head. Myne stood by a tree as to not interfere with his combat, much like Ren’s party members. Melina just watches from the shade, not at all hiding behind it. It made more sense for Myne to be closer in case any incidents were to erupt but it seems she didn’t think of that.

_ “They are coming.”  _ Naofumi noticed the red markers were swiftly running at him, cutting through the grass without wait. Melina kept observing around the area and him.

Naofumi immediately punched one as it tried to bite him, forcing it back with a tiny bit of damage. Noting that the flat of the shield gave it a good knockback. Next, he tried using the edge to slash next that jumped up with its mouth wide open. It went farther back than the flat and did a bit more damage than the first try.

By then, he was overwhelmed by the attacks of all the monsters, quickly getting swarmed by even more after that. He closed his eyes and braced for the pain… and none came, he could feel the balloons on him, but no pain whatever. A green sheen pulsed each time the knawed on him.

He quickly grabbed one and spiked it with the point on the shield, immediately killing it. He quickly repeated the action after finding out physics still applied, it probably was a high critical damage amount.

“Well, I found a way to kill them fairly efficiently.” Naofumi breaths out as he bursts another ballon. He looks over to Ren in the distance quickly dispatching 3 of them. Myne and Melina move towards him, Melina

“So it can absorb endless things huh,” Naofumi remarked after placing a piece of a balloon into the shield when they finally get to him. He got the feeling that the requirements were not met to upgrade the shield.

“Are these sellable?” Naofumi asked the native of this world while holding the yellow balloon. Melina quickly bringing out a rucksack to store the materials.

“Yes, it is common for monster materials to sell, it would be 1 copper though.” Naofumi felt that it was far too little to be worth it for grinding money, but to get a unlock a shield would be better.

“Well, now that you have a feel for combat and earned some exp, let’s get working,” Myne states with a cheer filled voice. Naofumi immediately notices that Melina’s name and two bars were in the top right under his own quick stats.

“Right,” They spent the rest of the day till sunset slaying the balloons.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Erhard Smithy: Castle Town_ **

**_5/18/0000: 1600_ **

“Go look for some better equipment,” Naofumi stated with a smile as he reached the counter, the two girls went off to the armor sets and looked around.

“Now, this is when it starts getting expensive… Lets haggle.” Naofumi said with a smirk, it was far more like a piece of entertainment to the two of them than it was actual haggling. With Naofumi getting progressively closer to free and the smith progressively heightening the price. Melina brought nothing up as she stood beside the men, a smile on her face as she enjoyed the argument.

The clank of equipment stopped the fun of the two as it settled atop the counter, the unmistakable shine of metal was what they turned to see.

“What would the equipment be after buying these at a 60% discount?” Naofumi asked the sell with a bit of distress. He already got the feeling that she was up to something when buying that armor. 

“480 after the discount. I can’t go any lower.” He remarks with a smug smirk.

“That would leave us with 150.” Naofumi quickly did the math of all the purchases today, glad that she doesn’t have the money on hand anymore.

“Myne, I know that you want to fight better and all, but buying that right now is a horrid idea. This is all that we have for the month besides equipment, and I would like to stay in lodgings for the entire month. Could you downgrade a bit?” Naofumi was used to keeping bad spending down and immediately knew that it was a bad idea.

“Don’t worry about that Sir Hero, the stronger I am the more loot that we can get.” Myne quickly remarks while going in to try and seduce him to buy it. Melina was quick to put a death to that plan.

“I am sorry Miss Myne, but it would be foolish not to have backup funds for emergencies for the month. It would also be unfair to me as you already had a full set of equipment before this and the sword is still in good condition.” Melina quickly stopped her from hugging the team leader from behind.

“Understood.” She pouted with an annoyed expression as she silently returned to get a cheaper set.

“By the way, do you know where we can sell these?” The tank of the party shows the rucksack filled with mob drops.

“Yeah, there are stores that will buy most monster drops.” He remarked while waving his hand to display that he won’t buy it.

“How about this one.” The new set of armor was placed onto the table. It didn’t look as polished but it still had a good amount of workmanship.

“How is the total at 60%?” Naofumi quickly asked, making sure that the mage was beside him.

“The gear and the sword would come out to 280.” Naofumi sighed, it was pricey but what he expected from her. It looked like it was the furthest she would go down so he quickly accepted that it would be the best option to buy this set.

“Sure, here you go.” Naofumi said with a tired face, he got the feeling that she would be doing something tonight if she was trying to buy expensive equipment.

Word Count: ~3200 Words

Date Completed: 12/12/2020

Notes: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, this is what I meant by focusing on Hero and Fighter before. Sorry about the last chapter mixup on FFN, I accidentally clicked a chapter for Hase Jager. I apologize for it. However, those reviews will not be featured in Review Corner today. On another note, I kept Enchantress on the original chapter when it was supposed to be Battle Mage, oversight on my part.

Review Corner:

FFN:

runelt99: Ah nice wonder how this will develop…

Reply: I honestly have only the faintest clue where it is going, my muse is just dragging me along with it.

Dcraus: Naofumi Iwantani Harem list:

Raphtalia

Eclair

Sadeena

Shildina

Female Fighter

Female Knight

Elven Knight

Female Chaos Knight

Female Dragon Knight

Female Priest

Female Inquistor

Female Slayer

Female Crusader

Female Shaman

Mistress

P.S I truly hope that you have suitable names for the female characters in Dungeon Fighters Online

Response: The harem is still undecided, though the original classes won’t be in… mainly due to having the subclasses, and a whole lot of them. I will be making up names on the fly anyway.

AO3: 

(Empty)

Thankyou to runelt99, drmcgraw186, and darkstel for reviewing about the wrong chapter being posted, if you hadn't I wouldn't have noticed till today.


	5. Dinner And Conversation

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _Thoughts"_ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_(Actions/POV)_

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 5**

**_Aegis Inn: Castle Town_ **

**_5/18/0000: 1800_ **

_Third Person: Omni_

“This is great! The castle’s food was great but the pub is where you experience another world’s cuisine.” Naofumi remarked with a smile, the dish looked and felt like a potato-based dish, the flavoring and nuances were different than he was used to.

“Sure is.” Melina agreed, she did enjoy quality over quantity, though to a much lesser degree when compared to her counterparts. So is the reality of being a physical fighter.

“I hope you relish the meal,” Myne remarked with a smile while looking at the two. After a few more bights of the food, Naofumi brought out a map of the region.

“The field we fought in was here right?” Naofumi pointed at a spot on the southwestern sector of the map after unfurling it onto an unoccupied place on the table.

“Yes. And tomorrow we will be heading for Lafan Village here.” She points to a place due northeast of castle town.

“It has a low-level dungeon for beginner adventures, it would be good to level you up. Even if it doesn’t give many funds.” Naofumi thought a bit differently in that regard after remembering the balloons that the Shield Absorbed.

“Do we have any other monsters here besides the Yellow Ballons?” Naofumi asked what was on his mind, it is good to get as much genuine information as possible before the plot tries to trap him.

“There are also Orange and Red Balloons, Red being the strongest. They only give an experience point though.” Myne remarks with a smile.

“Besides, with the new equipment, it would be a breeze with you defending me.” Myne pointedly ignored Melina and the implications of his question. She didn’t know how the shield grew just yet, and why it was absorbing materials.

“Besides, are you not going to drink the wine,” Myne asked while raising her own glass, she was the one who ordered all the food considering the other two didn’t know how to read the language. Though Melina didn’t show it to have the illusion of being a native.

“Don’t really enjoy the taste of alcohol,” Naofumi remarks, even if he drank it, it was not like he could get drunk on it. Melina ordered for herself, making sure to have water… even if she wanted to use the chance to drink wine.

“Really? But it is quite nice.” She remarks as the wine swirled in the glass, the light making the action look absolutely entrancing. She quickly drinks the entire glass in a refined manner.

“I want to drink with you.” The light blush from alcohol as she presses the glass towards his own untouched glass, clinking them together. It would be a lie to that the action was not enticing, but he held through.  
  


“Sorry, but wine isn’t my thing really.” He waves his hand to dismiss the thought.

“Is that so, too bad.” Myne remarks with a giggle, a sing-song voice, and a graceful smile in the candle lighting of the tavern.

“That is a hero for you.” She remarks with a giggle, it went over Naofumi’s head sadly.

“What do you mean?” He asked as she gestured around them.

“This country is a Matriarchy, no man would ever dare turn down a woman.” She gestures to the young women at the bar, having a conversation with one another as a waiter brings them all wine.

“I see, it is not often that I notice these things.” If it hadn’t been for his friend Des, he wouldn’t have known the dark elves were in a matriarchy in DFO either. Though he would have figured it, albeit out later than the rest.

“Don’t worry about it,” replied the redhead.

Melina observed the situation around her, she at least had the excuse of being young and never seeing the queen of the country. She was in the castle a majority of the time, and nobles don’t really go in there and disturb Mages’ work.

“On that note, you two are rooming together?” Nowfumi knew the value of money now, rooms were 30 copper a night and the meal was 5 copper a person.

“That is what we decided on in the field yes,” Melina remarked while leaning back in her chair, they knew that they needed to talk tonight.

“Alright then, I am going up to take the record of what we spent today,” Naofumi remarks while standing up, stretching while doing so. He would come down a bit later to converse with adventurers when they came.

“I’ll head up while drinking some more. Although it is quite lonely to drink alone.” Myne remarked while resting her chin on her hands. And she completely ignores Melina in the regard to drinking alone.

“Thank you both for accompanying me, the shield hero who can’t fight,” Naofumi states while walking up the door, making sure to tell the manager which room that he would be staying in and the room the girls will be staying in before paying for the night and food. The worker immediately put a note on the pages before nodding to Naofumi.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

  
  


Naofumi looked at the coins spread out on the table, innerwear from the blacksmith now on his frame. His spikey black hair cleaned up with a bit of water earlier… sadly there weren’t any onsen style baths in the city. Though he did hear that more tourist areas did have them. It was hard to make hot water, and enough of it for a bath without magicians and modern marvels huh.

“So we are around 349 silver pieces,” Naofumi stated as he finished counting the currency. He thought to himself about the traveling tips the Des told him… remembering to hide some coins on your person was generally a good idea.

“I feel like a Japanese tourist,” Naofumi remarked while putting some silver coins in his shield, the backside and not the gem of course. His armor was packed away in the rucksack, he had everything that the party had, he was the leader after all.

“They are here huh.” Naofumi smiled lightly at the commotion downstairs. He could make out the voices well despite everything between the two places.

“Yo! Back so late?” Naofumi remarked while walking down the stairs, making sure to hide everything in his room in spots that were hard to notice.

“Naofumi, good to see you.” Itsuki was the first to arrive it seemed, she was talking to Melina when he finally got into the lobby.

“Good evening Itsuki.” Naofumi greeted with a smile on his face, it would seem that her teammates were already looking through the food options. He noticed that Myne was not in the room, nor was Motoyasu.

“So you came in early?” Itsuki asked after he got a bit closer to her.

“Well, I left the meadows around the same time you all did. I just have fewer people to equip, remember?” Naofumi remarked with a smile, yes, the reason why they arrived at different times was due to party equipment, they also probably bought all their equipment besides the hero’s after the day was done.

“Yeah, how is that going for you?” Naofumi just gave an exhausted grin, while he knew that Myne was up to something… it was still quite hard.

“Yeah, she is up to something… I think tonight she will spring a trap.” Naofumi explained the strange actions that Myne took during the day.

“Ho… I get the same feeling from my teammates.” Itsuki also sighed, it would seem that they both got bad party mates, though Itsuki’s was not out to betray her, and Naofumi had an actual good member.

“But what do you expect from the starting AI…” Naofumi looked at her deeply when she says that, extremely serious.

“You know, our death is permanent it is not a game.” Naofumi looked straight into her brown eyes. Itsuki could tell he was dead serious, remembering all of his warnings.

“Right… you would be more than knowledgeable on that,” Itsuki said with a sigh. It was far better to take his word for it… even if she was originally stubborn in the regard that this world is a game.

“But how did you come to that conclusion?” Itsuki asked directly, still slightly on the fence despite her saying that she agreed.

“Wording of the people, context clues. Despite the old heroes also being summoned. They are not in this world anymore, and the waves are unresolved. Party members won’t respawn if my guess is correct. Otherwise, they would also be protecting the nations.”

“Right, but the way the world works is so much like Dimension Wave…” Itsuki looked at her stats, Naofumi thought of something strange, they all had contradicting nuances in their games. He quickly pulled out a pen and paper from his bag.

“Could you draw what your Stats look like?” Naofumi asked her with a gentle tone, trying to keep the bullied lass comfortable.

“Sure, but why though?” Itsuki accepted the items and started drawing what she saw infront of her.

“Well, due to how you’re used to Dimension Wave, I get the feeling that you are seeing a different status than me.” Naofumi started to draw what he himself saw, trying to be accurate.

“It is exactly Dimension Wave’s UI though.” Itsuki was quite a good artist, it was fairly realistic despite being only a short time from starting. Naofumi picked up her and tried comparing it to his own status. It was completely different, but the main elements were still there, just in a different format to fit.

“Here is my own basic screen.” Naofumi passed the page over to Itsuki, immediately noticing the difference. Thankfully it had only been a day since they had the status magic, otherwise, she would have thought what he was doing was a joke.

“Strange, they are completely different.” She mumbled while looking at what he labeled each symbol as… she quickly grabbed back her paper and did the same before returning the page for Naofumi to see. It was like the tutorial look at the main screen with the lines and general titles.

“Itsuki-sama, you haven’t eaten yet, lets get you some grub as a reward for killing those ballons.” Before they could talk any more, one of Itsuki’s party members quickly noticed the Bow and Shield heroes talking, the man in armor.

“Had a nice talk Naofumi!” Itsuki was quickly dragged away, she knew something was wrong with the situation. Melina just leans back in her chair, never interrupting the conversation between heroes… mostly due to all of it flying over her head.

“Alright then… do you want to talk in my room with fewer ears to listen in?” Naofumi said with a sigh, he has the persistent feeling that something will go wrong soon.

“Sure.” Melina nods with a calm expression.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

“Can you silence the room?” Naofumi asked after closing the door. She sits on the bed, watching him close the curtains before nodding in assent. She grabbed her glass rod and taps it on the floor.

“Oh, world, let the winds not carry our voices outside of this room. **Silence**!” Naofumi looked on as the magic light that originated from the point of contact spread over the indoors of the room.

“You can dispel your Teana Transformation,” Nofumi remarked as he sat on the chair provided, making sure to face her on the bed. She looked a bit surprised for a second before returning to a serious calm. Lights surrounded her for a second before shattering into shards. Revealing the form that he knew intimately.

“How did you know… wait, not you will explain it right?” The female mage kicked on the bed, her habits in this form already kicking in. She did not feel any hostility from the young man and felt that she could at least trust him a bit.

“Right… To put it simply I am your father… or at least a version of you.” He remarks in a completely serious manner, she looked amused for a second before thinking back to all his actions before… such as his commands to her back in the meadow or the familiarity of equipment.

“Alright, show me proof.” She states while glaring at him. He quickly brought out the backpack containing his stuff, showing her the unpowered laptop as he booted it up. Making sure to take out the solar battery to see how much charge he could use before waiting till a clear day.

“I don’t know why Pandemonium Tech would be…” She trailed off as he brought up the screenshots he had of her. The new consume that she wore now, the equipment that was now sealed in her own inventory, it was practically everything about her.

“Very much the same as the other heroes I had a game that I enjoyed quite a bit. Mine was called Dungeon Fighter Online, or Dungeon and Fighter in the Korean servers. And now that I look at you in real life… I don’t honestly know how to feel that I lead your life around.”

She staired in entrancement as a video popped up, one that he had sent to his group in good fun, of doing a combo that she just barely got the hang of herself… She closed her eyes for a few seconds, feeling violated and angry at first… but then remembering his words, originally it was all a game to him…

“I won’t be calling you daddy, especially when I remember mine quite clearly. But I can trust you… especially when you didn’t have to show me this.” 

She already knew that if he wanted to, he could have explained that she was just some character in a game he was familiar with… and not one that he crafted painstakingly for years. Her pointed ears, signaled her being a Pandemonium, twitched. He was that secret keeper that no one else knew about, he was the one who knew all of her experiences.

“Man this is a lot to take in… and we don’t have much time at all.” She sprawls herself on the bed. It is nice to be cheerful but it never prepared you for feeling stressed after upturning revelations like this.

“Yeah, I think we should go to bed and digest everything, my information from Itsuki and your information from me. Though I suggest you transforming into Teana for now.” She nodded as several chasers appeared and circled around her, revealing her grown-up form.

“Take this with you for now, and keep it hidden and or close to you… she is doing something tonight and it is a horrid idea to keep it here where she expects it.” Naofumi quickly stated while pressing the bag of coins and his backpack into her arms, the armor still on the chair was not included.

“Right.” She took the items and returned to her room. Naofumi looked at the armor and the innerwear before hiding them under the dresser. Deciding it was safe enough, he put a chair by the door and rested on the bed. After closing his eyes for a few seconds, he noticed the other two hero’s voices along with Ituski’s.

**_Aegis Inn: Castle Town_ **

**_5/18/0000: 1800_ **

Naofumi looked out the window of the room, just barely waking up. He hoped that everything would go well today but had a feeling that things would get harder from here on.

“Let’s see if they stole it.” Naofumi left a bag with some balloon pieces tied into coin-like disks in the drawer last night to see if they would steal it. Low and behold, the bag was gone. He hoped that the other items were safe as he looked under the dresser. 

Both items were safe it seemed. He quickly folded up the other set of clothes and put on the armor. Waiting in apprehension on the third-day event. He walks out the door and over to Myne and Melina’s room.

“Guys, it seems like we got robbed.” He knocked on the door before listening to if anyone was there. He heard nothing inside, and he knew that Melina would definitely hear it, especially in her alert state at the moment.

“Seems like it is in motion.” He mumbles as he walks downstairs and conversed with the manager from last night about the missing stuff. The clanking of armor alerted him to the king’s hand in the conspiracy.

“You are the Shield Hero, right?” The guard in front of the group spoke, having Naofumi turn and observe the large number of royal guards standing there.

“Yes, It would seem that the coins that my team had are missing, and I can’t find my teammates right now.” Naofumi kept calm while conversing with them, trying to keep his nervous shaking to a minimum.

“The king has issued a summon for you.” The main guard spoke while stepping forward to the young man. If it were two days ago, or even yesterday he would be quite scared.

“Miss Athena, could you accompany me so that your testimony last night can be heard?” Naofumi asked the young woman behind the counter, despite the guards infront of her, she nodded in consent as this is an issue that happened in the inn, and her mother who owned it would be in trouble if rumors were to start.

Word Count: ~2900 Words

Date Completed: 12/13/2020

Note: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

Review Corner:

FFN:

Dcraus: Okay I understand I looking forward to see The Shield Hero interact with Female characters in Dungeon Fighters Online has well they devolp romance feelings towards him

Response: Well, all the DFO protags will end up showing up in one form or another as I work with their lore and stuff.

(Review on chapter 3)

Dcraus: I get the feeling Melina has suspect Myne true intentions reglaress what she still will go by Naofumi side true and through

Response: Yeah, Melina will be staying inside Naofumi’s party. She already smelled a plot for a long while now, though only really decided to help Naofumi in the summoning room.

darkstel: is the Foundation of the harem going to be from the world of Dungeon Fighter Online? This is not very good. In any case, until the author decides what the story is about (lol, what nonsense), it is difficult to assess this.

Response: I honestly got a bit confused by the format of your review when I first read it. The DFO characters will be part of the party, but so will familiar faces coming from Shield Hero. Sides, it is not surprising when all that I write is chapter by chapter with a precedent set by all my other fics… especially when I sometimes go on binges without writing due to IRL stuff. And a majority of authors I know have no idea where they are heading besides the faintest outline, but that is fine with an ongoing fic like this anyway.

AO3:  
  
Sadly nothing here this time.


	6. A Trial Of Farces

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 6**

**_Throne Room: ???? Castle: Castle Town_ **

**_5/19/0000: 1325_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“No need to be so forceful.” Naofumi resisted a push by the guards, if he were not braced for it, he would have met the floor intimately but instead, he just stabilized himself with a few steps.

“Myne, you are okay!” Naofumi stated as he saw the red head stand by the spearman. He could already tell that the woman was pulling on the womanizer like a puppet. She quickly hid behind the hero.

“King, our money got stolen, if I hadn’t made sure to hide my armor, I am sure it would have been stolen.” He kept his cool while observing the mages, heroes, and king. The king was stone-faced while the spear wielder was angrily staring at the young hero. Naofumi could not see Melina among the mages or the heroes’ parties.

“Quiet you scumbag!” The king roared… but Naofumi could already tell that he was angry far before this. Itsuki looked on with a poker face, already knowing that Naofumi prepared something to turn the tides.

“Poor adventure Myne, Please testify before us once again.” The king spoke, commanding the retelling of her story.

“The shield hero barged into my room drunk and tore off my clothes while saying the night was still young. I could barely escape him before running to Sir Spear Hero’s room.” Naofumi could feel betrayal running through his body, and anger of course, despite intellectual knowing that she was going to do this. It still hurt from all her actions the past day.

“If she didn’t tell me to wait and call the knights at dawn I would have cut you down myself,” Motoyasu stated with barely contained rage.

**“Kill them… Avenge Yourself…”** Naofumi heard several thoughts in the rage, almost as if something was tempting him, and artificially upping the intensity of the anger he felt. Before the flames could consume his mind and leak from his mouth, he breathed a few times. He felt a thorn settle in his heart.

“To think that the Shield Hero would commit the gravest sin in this country.” The king states with his head supported by an open hand.

“The crime of sexually assaulting a woman is punishable by death.” One of the officials stated swiftly.

“If you were not a hero, you would be executed immediately” The king stood while pointing at the hero.

“It would seem that only one part of the conversation is being heard. I wonder what the just Queen will do once she returns to listen to the record.” The inn owner’s daughter suddenly spoke up, surprising the people in the room. Itsuki and Ren both recognized her… it would seem that Motoyasu never encountered her.

“Who might you be miss?” The startled spear man looked over at the pretty tavern lass… All of them looked at her, she was still in her uniform as she accompanied them swiftly.

“My name is Athena Seria Hampton. The manager on shift at Aegis Inn last night and today. I would like to make my testimony of last nights events to clear the shield hero’s name. Though I originally accompanied him to report the theft of his money.” She stated calmly, her soft voice flowing through the air, reaching all their ears easily.

“I see. Then please testify.” The king looked stone cold as he said those words. Naofumi knew that he was angered by the plot being countered like this.

“The shield hero Naofumi Iwatani and his two companions arrived at the inn before the rest of the heroes. They bought our meal set for three people. Miss Myne and Sir Naofumi both were brought glasses of wine by Miss Myne’s behest.” She states calmly, recollecting it quickly.

“Naofumi did not touch the wine in any manner as he finished his meal and left his two companions to talk. He came up to me to tell me which rooms they would be in and asked whether there are any protections in the room. I told him of our protections as a high-class inn, all rooms have alarm magic on them and are reinforced from attacks due to adventures and high profile merchants staying in the inns.”

“He paid for two rooms, one for himself and the other for his two companions to cut back on costs. I asked whether or not he would like a key to his companion’s room. He politely refused, stating that “It is far better for their mental health and my own that I don’t have access to their rooms. If need be, I can knock on the door to talk to them.” I then gave him the key before he pointed out the two companions of his.” She finishes the first time that she saw him.

“The Bow Hero then arrived with their party, their party, and began to talk to Melina, Sir Naofumi’s Mage, as Myne left to their room. A few minutes later, Sir Naofumi came down to talk with me for a bit about our accommodations and food, complementing our cuisine extensively, before he was dragged into a conversation with the Hero Of The Bow.”

“Before he left with the two, I asked him why he would not drink the wine, he just stated that alcohol did not work on him before he was dragged away.” She finishes the second occurrence of his speaking with her.

“After a few minutes later, the Bow hero was dragged away by their party. The two-party members talked for a bit before coming over. Melina asked for the key to her room. I asked what they would be doing before Naofumi stated that he had to speak to Melina about magic in his room before they retired for the night.”

“An alarm went off for an unauthorized person in Sir Naofumi’s room. The spear hero and Miss Myne never got into contact with me about Sir Naofumi’s supposed assault.” She reported the relatively quiet night.

“The next day, Sir Naofumi reported to me about the theft before the guards arrived to take the hero the castle, I accompanied them to give my testimony.” Myne steadily paled at the words coming out of the tavern worker’s words contradicted hers in multiple ways.

“Can you tell us where Miss Melina is?” The king asked, shifting his body into a pondering posture.

“Some guards asked for her presence in something an hour before Naofumi descended from his room. She had all the bags from the party with her, she then stated that Naofumi gave them to her for safekeeping in case something were to happen.” She quickly answered his question.

“Does anyone know where she is?” The king asked while looking at the guards, some of which were starting to sweat in their armor.

“I am here now king,” The large doors into the throne room were kicked open with an ample amount of force. Standing in the doorway was the battle mage in her transformed glory, having all save for one none the wiser of her actual race and age. With a spear and bag in hand, she quickly stepped into the room with a grin on her face.

“I see, where were you before?” The king asked in a surprised tone.

“Well just before this, I was in your dungeons, I got out easily enough though. But when I left the inn, I penned a letter to the queen and gave it to one of her agents.” She laughed while quickly walking forward with a hop in her step. The heroes besides Naofumi felt the strange wording.

“Why would you pen a letter to the queen?” Itsuki asked with a pondering expression, she knew that the counter trap developed by the two of them was about to trigger.

“It is a matriarchy, my heroes. The king is not to have any power and the trial today is without the queen’s permission. As this country summoned the heroes without the consent of other countries, she is busy with diplomatic missions to not set off a war. I know especially well that another country would accept the Shield Hero in a heartbeat if he was exiled.”

She spread her hands out for everyone to focus on her. Melina took a glance at the shadows on the second floor, though no one caught it.

“I say that all these false charges brought upon the hero lay at Miss Myne’s feet.” Naofumi still felt the rage from the earlier accusations and betrayal building, it was an outside source that was doing something. He closed his eyes to focus on cooling down the flames, trying to turn it into ice like some of his light novels taught him. If anything, the cold rage was far deadlier for enemies than burning rage.

The nobles were talking animatedly with one another, it looked far more like women gossiping than lords conversing. Naofumi felt the rage abate, but he would have to do some stuff to smother the fire.

“Sir Shield Hero… I apologize for the false accusations. Have these coins as compensation.” The king looked at a mage for a few seconds before saying anything. The mage just shook his head, it would seem that he is the head mage of the king. He quickly looked directly at the falsely accused hero.

“Just give me some silvers, it would seem that she has rejoined his party.” Motoyasu looked confused at everything that had happened, looking at the young woman at his side, and the three others that had conflicting evidence. He couldn’t decide who to trust.

“Right, Thank you for accompanying me for this Athena…” He quickly bowed to the young woman who just smiled in a warm manner. He accepted the coins from the official who looked a bit disgruntled.

“Let’s go, Melina… We need to grind more after all.” Naofumi started his walk out of the castle, his emotions blank as the footsteps rang out of the hall. Melina was quick to mockingly bow for the officials and quickly rushes after him.

“Let’s talk again sometime… Ren, Itsuki, Motouasu.” Naofumi waved goodbye to them as the pair walked out of the room, the large doors closing behind him.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

“So what are we going to do now? The good queen won’t be arriving for a while, and you know they will be after your blood.” Malina said as she caught up to his hastened steps.

“Right now… I need to cool off before I become a ‘zerker.” Naofumi said aloud while walking past the gates once more. Many people quickly move off to the side when he arrives, it looks rumors of him being a rapist have spread before the final decision could even come about.

“Right then, and having you become like Jin is a horrible idea” She puts her arms behind her head while looking at him. They both knew that their teammate prospects were grim if they looked officially. It might be the easiest option to buy a slave or two.

“Yo, Shield Kid, come ere for a sec.” The blacksmith looked angry, it would seem that even he knew of the rumors. Naofumi just motioned for Melina to go on ahead without him before walking into the ally with the muscled man.

“I heard what you did to that girl… you deserve a punch to the face.” Naofumi silently stood as the man slammed him into the wall. A fist raised to do just what he said, it would seem his anger didn’t abate even after seeing the Mage walk beside him.

“I thought that you were going to punch me.” Naofumi was cold now, his emotions frozen over as this world revealed where it’s depths were. The blacksmith had looked the young man in the eyes before letting off on him. The green eyes of the younger were filled with frosted rage and a hint of acceptance.

“No, I changed my mind. I want to hear your side of the story before I make any judgments.” Looking at his face reminded the blacksmith of all the impressions he had of the young man… and none of them screamed rapist.

“The one you know as Myne originally chose to go the Spear Hero’s party but came into mine after no one chose me on the first go-around. She ended up betraying me last night, trying to frame me.” Naofumi brushed off his shoulders, his tone polite with the older gentleman, a contrast to the warm one he used when haggling with him.

“Wait a second.” Naofumi tried to leave the ally way before the day could get any shorter, but the call of the blacksmith stopped him. The man went into his shop and brought out a green hoodless cloak.

“Take this, despite that armor of yours, it is good to have something to keep yourself warm.” The blacksmith started with a cold expression, he would give the young man a chance, one that was created by their interactions before this debacle.

“How much.” Even with his colder personality to keep his rage down, he still knew about money.

“It is a parting gift, I’ll say it was on clearance and is only 5 copper.” He states with a passive tone. Naofumi nodded, he still doesn’t have the money on him and would rather not deal with the large number of copper coins he would receive.

“I’ll pay you back later.” Naofumi covered his form with the cloak, hiding the shield was much more feasible now with the cloak. His tone emotionless by design, if any emotion were to stain it only rage would be felt.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Ballon Meadows_ **

**_5/19/0000: 1400_ **

“You know you could have just ignored him right.” The conversation between the two started after he destroyed a few of the balloons, the sky starting to darken due to the overcast weather.

“I know he is not an unfair guy,” Naofumi stated while aggroing another set of balloons that were swiftly popped by the spear and chasers that she sent out. She returned her regularly from once they got out here, mainly so that she can save on SP, this world’s mana.

“So, how are we going to get some party members?” Melina stated while dodging an attack of one that aggroed onto her, with him catching it and spiking it into the smallest point of the shield. She knew that at this level, she was a liability when her SP ran out.

“I am probably going to be in the seedier parts of town.” They rested while he used half of the ruptured balloon skins on the shield, the other half going into a rucksack.

“Ho, you can’t get trust worth allies like that.” She remarks while leaning back onto the tree. And she did have a point.

“I get the feeling that there will be slaves…” Naofumi stated while they rested under a tree. The place started to have light rain, how thematic of the world to do it in this situation...

“Ho… my father is such a bad person to use slaves.” She said with a teasing grin, she knew that it was the only option as everyone in the country mistrust the hero. Besides, he would be a far better master than any other, if a bit of a taskmaster.

“So what are our lodgings for tonight.” She asked with a smile, whether they go back and try for an inn or stay out here for the night was the question. She is no stranger to ruffing it after all.

“You take a majority of things to Aegis Inn… I really don’t want for rumors to start on them so I will be ruffing it.” He was already starting to think that this world was after him… for good reason.

“How thoughtful.” She said with a smile as she got closer to him, using the cloak on his figure as a raincoat.

“I want to let the heat die down a little, after all, a sudden change in the decision does not usually settle well with the people,” Naofumi said with a tired yawn, all his rage away for a moment… but he could feel it under the surface, waiting for a chance to tempt him.

“Why are you keeping some of the balloons on hand?” She asked after noting him putting a ball of the stuff into his cloak.

“I want to try negotiations with the monster material merchants.” He said with a devious grin on his face, already imagining the scare that prejudiced merchants will feel.

“So I will be going back into town and doing nothing?” She said with an eye on him, her experience already telling her that he will have her doing something.

“Contact the queen’s agents, have them get a message from the queen so we know international affairs.” Naofumi would probably be going an all-nighter while she was sleeping in the inn. 

“Have a good night, Naofumi.” Melina looked back at the resting young man, it stopped raining a bit ago, allowing her to move freely. He just nods warmly as she leaves him to the wilderness.

Word Count: ~2900 Words

Date Completed: 12/13/2020

Note: Hope you all enjoy it… I have no idea when this creative binge will end, but I will work on it as much as my time and muse allow.

Comment Cove:

FFN:

darkstel: So you don't even have any girls added? Sigh* what nonsense, the Prospect of this story keeps falling and falling.

Response: Well that is entirely wrong and I have no idea how you even got that from not just my Comment Cove Segment, but the actual details of the story. I won’t rush the story to ham fist the girls into the spotlight.

Dcraus: Naofumi has already accepted his new reality has the Shield Hero and thus the plot begins in the Rising of the Shield Hero

Response: He is the shield hero, like it or not, and knows that he has to save the world or die trying. A lot of things will change and many more stay the same as he has no control over those situations.

AO3:

Nothing Sadly


	7. Unfair Merchants Are Tyrants

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 7**

**_Mercent District: Castle Town_ **

**_5/20/0000: 0900_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

  
  


“1 Copper for 2 pieces.” The particular merchant that Naofumi focused on stated with a grin. The shield hero was not the constant point of attention due to the cloak hiding the source of his recent troubles. They quickly concluded their deal, allowing Naofumi to be the next seller.

“Here, 200 pieces.” Naofumi took out a ball of 200 pieces, deliberately allowing the merchant to see the shield to see any strange actions that the man would take.

“20 coppers in all.” The merchant was quick to hop on a chance to show their greed. A smile on his face stained with an unmasked crafty thought process.

“I would recommend never giving an unfair deal to someone. But live specimens must sell higher right?” Naofumi remarked with a sarcastic grin as he pulled the merchant under his cape… right in front of the balloons that were gnawing on his body.

“Alright 1 silver coin.” The merchant states while wiping his face down with a rag, he was in quite the fright after seeing the murderous eyes of the balloon monster. The merchants’ world is cut through, and when nothing would enforce on his behalf, he had to take matters into his own hands.

“Be sure to tell your merchant friends about it.” Naofumi states after getting his money… tired of keeping up the villainous actions to draw out a slave merchant. He glances toward a young woman talking to a merchant… remembering her face as one often around him.

“Can you keep an eye on Bow Hero for me… it is better to have half of the heroes competent than only a fourth,” Naofumi spoke in an unhurried manner, he already guessed who, or at least what organization she is from. From the read that he got from Itsuki’s personality, it was easy to manipulate her… Thankfully he had made it harder for others to do so. She looked at him searchingly before nodding.

“Well, that is another end tied… I have a few hundred silvers… I have to figure out preserved foods don’t I.” Naofumi thought through everything that he would need on a journey, besides the standard camping set up or a carriage if he could somehow get a steed, it would be enough food for a certain amount of party members. Hunting and cooking monsters is an option, but he would like some emergency food. 

“Looking for a seamstress after a bit would be a good idea.” When he thought about his backpack, it would be good to replicate it, or even a duffle bag if possible. Carrying capacity is critical, as well as efficient packing. Even if he isn’t a packrat, he still picked up some tricks of the trade.

He spotted a pharmacy as he was returning to outside the city. Noting in his mind about medicine that would be needed in battle and on a long trip, he kept in mind the plant that was growing in one of the boxes. As it was a medical store, it would make sense that it would have some medical property.

“So, what else do you need me to do?” Melina happened to show up just as he was thinking about what to try and do with his shield. She observed his movements with a careful eye, something ingrained into her habits when dealing with anyone.

“Besides grinding even more materials, information. You will be dealing with higher class establishments. Though you are probably the more powerful of the two of us.” Naofumi gave her the silver to get five copper coins in order to repay the smith.

“Well, what are we waiting on? Let’s go to the meadow to try and find those red balloons you were looking for.” She says while flexing her bicep, grinning at the young man with a carefree smile of her own. She was always a battle maniac, that is the reason why she is a battlemage, to get close and have contact with her targets.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Balloon Meadows/Forest Edge_ **

**_5/20/0000: 1300_ **

“So, we searching for medical plants?” After some lunch on the meadows, they went searching for something besides the yellow balloons that they kept on encountering.

“Yeah, I want to see if my shield can unlock something when I get a medical plant in it.” He looked around another tree while keeping the plant in his mind, it might be a fool’s errand, but the chance it has grown here was still there, and it was imperative that he take it.

“I know that it is important… but I really want to hit something.” It was something that she didn’t even have to voice for him to know, it is something that he knew far too much about her.

“Then go and collect some balloons, I wonder how many you can chain.” It was not like she was patient enough to look at trees all day. If anyone were to do it with him, it would be Nix, his shadow dancer. If he was right, she took up gardening as a hobby.

“Right then, you gave me the go-ahead, party leader!” She cheered before running off and sweeping her spear, several chasers appeared for each contact of a monster. The explosive orbs were created bigger than the last, maxing out at a certain point.

“That girl…” Naofumi sighed while looking for another tree to find whatever growth was settled at the base of it. He then started to hear the signature explosions of chasers being used to decimate enemies. Hopefully, she remembers to clear up the battlefield after she is done.

“Here it is,” Naofumi mumbled after looking behind a particular tree, it was a bit deeper in the forest, fairly close to the middle of it. Deciding to pick only one of the leaves of the plant, he was able to get enough of it to test with his shield.

“Huh… a mastery system.” In the UI that only he could witness, several shields appeared, along with a help blurb. To put it simply, it outlined that all shields have something to be gained from mastery and skills that can be kept even after switching shields. You gain mastery after using the shield for a while.

“ **Leaf Shield** ” The original small shield on his arm changed into another one in light. The shield on his arm was modeled after a green leaf, almost exactly like the leaf that he used to unlock it. He was able to look at what the shield offered, a simple skill called  **Harvest** , a skill to increase the quality of items that he picks up.

“Let’s try this out…” Naofumi stated while looking around the general vicinity in order to find more herbs to sell, and hopefully get a recipe and equipment to make potions so they don’t have to depend on supplies from stores.

“So it works.” He remarks while picking one of them from the stem, something that his instincts, or the skill itself, told him to do in order to harvest it properly. When he picked the medicinal plant, he noted a green glow that lasted for a second after removing it from the ground.

“So you found it after all. Oh did you get a new shield?” Melina returned with a rucksack filled to the brim with materials, though Naofumi couldn’t tell what was inside.

“Yep, found out how to unlock shields, it is a bit like the tutorial ended. So do you have anything else besides balloons in there? Like red balloon pieces or other monster parts?” Naofumi asked while eyeing the rucksack of materials. He quickly puts the medical ingredients in their own bag for him to carry tonight.

“Yep, and what I am guessing are mushrooms. They just came from the forest while you were harvesting things.” She takes out the first layer of materials. The signature balloon remains and chunks of mushrooms. Green, blue, and the standard grey mushroom chunks.

“Thank you, did you get everything out of your system?” Naofumi asked while grabbing the new materials to place into his shield. Noting that all the materials gave new shields. The  **Red balloon shield** ,  **Mush Shield** ,  **Green Mush Shield** , and the  **Blue Mush Shield** . They gave a +4 in defense, the skills  **Plant Appraisal I** ,  **Simple Recipe I** , and  **Apprentice Compounding** in order.

“Yep, haven’t been this relaxed in a while. Preparing for you guyses summon took a lot out of us mages, and it was all stuffy when we were doing our own research. Those mages are all too uniform for my tastes.” She remarked with a grin.

“What shields did you get from the mats?” She asked as he closed up the bag after taking some of the other balloon pieces out. It would seem that he is going to split the party up again tonight… this time she would be investigating the church.

“None of them are duds… and the names of them are what you would expect from the materials that unlocked them.” He remarked while looking through the equipment skills. He was remembering several MMOs that had weapons that had tied skills… none that would give them skills even after the unequipping of them though. Besides skill books of course.

“How nice. Do they do anything special?” She remembered some of the weapons she had that gave her bonuses to certain skills, even some for the other members. She wondered if the equipment in this world had the same mechanic.

“I am guessing a majority of the time, stat bonuses. The shield I have on me increases drop quality though. And I even get to use the skill outside of equipping it when I use it enough.” He states with some cheer in his voice, this is something quite helpful to him later on.

“Little numbers make big numbers after all.” Even if she had large stats, she remembered the times where she had to repeat attacks in order to kill an enemy. The smallest things when added up make a big difference… even if she could not be like him with equipment. Buffs on the other hand are useful in that regard.

“Alright then, tonight’s agenda, selling materials through me, getting information through you, buying a slave, and in the end if possible, buying medical crafting equipment.” Processed things are generally more profitable to sell than raw materials.

“Righto boss. Hopefully, it goes well for you.” She states with a grin while picking up the sack of materials.

“Oh yeah, Athena says that you will be able to sleep at the inn whenever you want now, the unrest and misjudgment about you have died down quite a bit.” She remarked while having the spear settle itself back in the sack, bringing out her glass pole before turning back into her Teana transformation.

“Give her my thanks. After tonight I think we will be able to sleep with the entire party in tow.” After a second of thought, he regained his phone from the backpack before returning the container to her.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Seedy Bar: Castle Town_ **

**_5/20/0000: 1900_ **

“Oh Great shield hero, you could let us be your party members.” A trio of Naofumi’s soon to be victims decide to say, they were definitely the horrid sort, blind robbers seeing a defenseless sheep… that was not so defenseless in reality.

“Let’s discuss terms outside then…” Naofumi remarked after placing down his cup of water. The three surrounded behind him, acting like vultures… no vultures were too kind of a word for them.

“The shares will be performance-based… as I am the leader I will get 40 percent of it.” He remarks with a fairly standard condition for a party of 4 fairly new people. But he knew that they fully would not accept it.

“Yeah, no, give us your money.” The lankier of them said with a grin now that they were in the night streets. He could already tell that they were pulling out whatever weapons they had… No guards were around this part of the city.

“Should have said that earlier…” Naofumi thought he did the brooding act fairly well… but when he got talking to people who actually brood often, it was nowhere close to authentic. Though the three stoges did not seem to think that way.

“Oh, what do we have here.” The more portly of the trio tried to grab the hero’s cape, only to quickly get a balloon to the hand… due to not having the inherent protection of the hero, they did feel the painful bite of the monster.

“Die.” The middle of physics decided to attack with a knife to which Naofumi met with his shield. He was quickly forced into the ground from the massive gap between his offense and the green-eyed shielder’s defense.

“Run for it!” The three were quick to leave the person they now thought as dangerous in mind… it will be a much more cautious dark underbelly of civilization that would now target him.

“Might I interest you in something that you are needing right now?” From the dark corner alley that Naofumi played this show for, a strange man in a suit and tophat appears.

“Offering me party members?” Naofumi asked in a hard to get manner… sometime soon he would be unable to use this style of acting when everyone knows of his innocence… reputation is an important factor.

“No, what I am offering you is a far more convenient service.” The man fiddled with his top hat slightly, his unsettling grin unable to phase the shoulder who is in need of party members. The light on his glasses from the moonlight hid his eyes from the world, the stereotypical black market merchant in light novels.

“What would that be?” Naofumi asked as the man about as tall as his shoulders walked into the moonlight beside the young man. It created a sight of an info broker and the agent talking about a mission.

“Ho? Does my offer interest you? Then please, follow me. You really are like the rumors say you are.” Naofumi felt a bit of satisfaction from the past two days of browbeating the merchant circle.

“So what exactly are you offering me?” Naofumi followed the man into the town’s more seedy area, and into the place, they would do business. The place looked far more like a circus tent than anything. If it was a monster being offered, well it was second on his list of combative resources.

“Don’t you see? Slaves of course!” The man raised his arms, his cane following his movements to showcase the many cages and crates of merchandise that would be offered to him. It would seem that the black-haired man caught the right attention for his purposes.

“What makes a slave any better than a regular companion?” Naofumi asked, already knowing the answer if any of the darker elements attributed to fantasy stories hold true.

The merchant of a black trade quickly explained that magic curses were used in order to keep them obedient… and even kill slaves if need be. Naofumi noted the monstrous beings alongside various humanoid beings. The merchant already knew what he was noticing about his trade, and decided to explain other races… generally named Demi-Humans.

“Alright then… I need slaves who are not broken just yet.” Naofumi said to the slaver. The man in question just grinned before moving into the crates, gesturing the man to follow him, allowing Naofumi to smell the diseased beings.

“These two then.” Naofumi witnessed several slaves, strong-looking ones sickly. Old, young, defiant, and subdued beings of both genders were shown to him. Only two caught his eyes, One demi-human, and the other human but it was not about gender, it was the mix of steel and despair in their eyes.

Word Count: ~2700 Words

Date Completed: 12/15/2020

Notes: New party members to be revealed in the next chapter. One you are already familiar with. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

Comment Cove:

FFN: 

darkstel: I won't be interested in shit where the author can't answer a primitive question.

Reply: You know… why would I not want to answer a question? It would be because of how utterly unimpressed I am at your insults and your blatant disregard of being at least civil. I can understand not wanting to waste time and resources… but you are wasting your own and mine like this. Especially when the answers to your questions are literally in the story if you were to actually be an intelligent person and read it along with understanding context clues.

(For others, I am just tired of dealing with this guy. You can leave or stay reading now that I have made my stance clear enough.)

RedBurningDragon: So this Naofumi is going to be a calmer one then canon also probably be more informed since Melina has a contact

Reply: Naofumi is calmer, and more optimistic than in canon. And as much as Melina has been a help… she aint all that much of an info gatherer. Especially when she can only really deal with the lighter parts of society, the reason why Naofumi is in the darker parts of the city rather than her.

AO3

Robbie2413: Well I guess Raphtalia will be with Naofumi next chapter hehehe

They are so screwed when Mirellia gets back for that trial. So Naofumi will likely become the devil of the shield regardless so I guess you are adhering to canon.

Reply: Mirellia is having a harder time in dealing with forign dignitaries… especially now that the king has shown a horrid leadership ability at the moment. Naofumi will not descend into the Shield Devil this time… especially with what I have planned.


	8. Chained Companions

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 8**

**_Beloukas’s Market: Castle Town_ **

**_5/20/0000: 1950_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“Ho? Not even going to look at my recommendation and instead of going for a Half Racoon and a stoic?” The trader grinned in interest while walking back to the stopped hero. He left the wolfman inside the cage behind him in order to speak.

“I know that he is by far many times more expensive than your other slaves. I would rather go for cheap and obedient.” Though Naofumi knew that they would be good companions after remembering the backstories of his creations… always with a tragedy that brought them up to some of the strongest beings.

“So you already understand that Demi-Humans would be good for that purpose… but what about the human?” He asked while looking at the second pick of Naofumi, a young woman with dark brown hair and black eyes. Like he had stated earlier, she did not show any expression on her face.

“Her health, she is diseased after all, and visibly malnourished. I wouldn’t be surprised if she were to die in a few more hours from now, especially in these conditions.” He knew both of them were not in good condition… but he has dealt with having bad health in his characters, and learned how to deal with malnutrition from Des.

“Ho, you have a good eye.” He remarked simply, the unsettling grin on his face growing even more interested as the hero spoke.

“The raccoon is diseased, physically, and mentally. Her former owner liked torture you see. And the young woman is a disgraced nobleman’s daughter, sold to take care of debt. Due to her emotionless demeanor not sitting well with others, she was left here and dropped in price as her body deteriorated.”

“I have decided on them, what are their prices,” Naofumi stated as both of them coughed severely. The raccoon girl was visibly scared at the notice of his interest in her. And from the eyes of the other, he could tell she was resigned to her fate as his slave.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

After a bit of negotiation between the two, it was settled that 90 silver for the both of them, 20 for the demi-human, and 70 for the barely alive former noble. Naofumi cut his thumb, allowing the blood to run off the knife and into the pool of ink that the Merchant was using.

“Your names,” Naofumi stated while looking over at the two. The younger of them was still scared of the young man who was putting on a cold act. He could tell the other was slightly broken… as if someone betrayed her.

“Ra-Raphitalia.” The younger spoke first, interrupting her own name due to the sudden coughing fit that she had. It made all the instincts of the protector scream at him to help her, to keep her safe from all harm.

“This one has no name.” The stoic voice of the other spoke all the truth that he needed, there were no signs of pain from the seal that was placed on them with his blood.

“Alright then… how about Senka?” She nods at the new name given to her, not showing any real preference at the moment. If he were to believe the story, it would be a true separation of her past life to gain a new name.

“Just remember, that you can come back any time, dear customer.” Naofumi almost felt disgusted at that line and voice from the man… if it were a shady woman on the other hand it would be far more palpable to any person.

“Alright then, here are the coins. And another two silvers for the slaves’ seals that you were probably going to charge later.” Naofumi quickly put the money into his hands. His expressionless eyes motioning for the two to follow him outside of this place.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

“To Amatartusu Herself, that was exhausting to act like that.” After reaching out of the sight of the common people, Naofumi stretched his body to the surprise of the two. Naofumi went through the conversation with the slave merchant once more in his mind, if he weren't a slave merchant, he would be a great guy to be around him. But at least he is a fair person.

“Master…” Raphitalia asked with a bit of will in her voice now but ended up almost coughing her lungs out. The other slave quickly held the young girl… making sure to steady the person of a race she thought was beneath her before.

“Oh yeah, medicine…” Naofumi quickly said while rubbing his head, though he did not have any on him at the moment, nor the materials to make some. It would seem that his next stop is the pharmacy or a magic shop to get the equipment to do so.

“I need to go get some equipment, both for compounding and for you two.” He mumbles while counting in his mind about expenses that would be caused by this… he did care about them, and he knew that they would be accompanying him for a long time.

“Alright you two, follow me, I need to talk to the pharmacist before having you two equipped for combat.” He states with a warm tone, making sure that it is soft enough to not scare them too much. With trauma… psychologically it was best to expose them to their fears in a comfortable environment.

“Melina is out doing stuff and earning money for the next two days or so… I got to train them at least enough for them to function well.” He said to himself, they both looked surprised at the new name that came up.

“Before I forget…  **Blue Mush Shield** .” The small shield that gave away his appearance as the shield hero swiftly changed it into another small shield that covered his forearm, this one was a shield that was based on a mushroom… like the  **Leaf Shield** before.

“Shield Hero…” Both of them were stunned at the sudden change of shield, only remembering a single shield that would have been able to do so. They respectively went into their own thoughts as Naofumi led the way to the Apothecary in order to get the medical equipment.

“What are you waiting on? We don’t have much time tonight to get things done.” His words were quick to snap them out of their thoughts. Raphatalia quickly ran to behind him, not as scared as she once was… but the trauma that she faced earlier in her life forced her mind into being fearful. The newly named slave was last, staring blankly at the back of the young man after looking into the shadows… and all the agents that hid among it. She walked with him now.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Erhard’s Smithy: Castle Town_ **

**_5/20/0000: 2020_ **

“You still up?” Naofumi knocked on the door of the smith’s shop. The lights were dark but he still heard the sounds of a smith at his work just a bit earlier.

“Who is it no-. Oh, it’s you. Come in then, I am guessing you need something?” The smith opened the door about to yell at whoever was dumb enough to come this late at night. He found a trio of people, one the young man who came to his store before, and the other two new faces.

“Basic equipment for them, keep it under 9 silvers each please.” He remarked with a tired expression, something the Smith had seen far before today and remembered quite well.

“Right, it will take a minute.” He states with a sigh as the three came into the store. He quickly went to the back in order to get the things, already noting the slave crests that he could only take a glance at.

“You know, the merchants are fairly scared of you now.” When he returned with the two sets of clothes and a pair of knives, he decided to remark on the reputation that Naofumi built up.

“I needed to build up that reputation to have the more orderly dark side of society to reveal itself… It should be better now that I know a guy who deals in slaves and monsters.” Naofumi remarked while leaning on the counter with a tired grin, making sure to keep the bag of fragile equipment by his side in a manner that would not move it too much.

“If you know what you are doing… So how is the girl?” He asked while remembering the other of the original party.

“She is out doing info reconnaissance, I have not idea about what this country is like, such as the religion or major events that happened. I wish that I could have gotten books before the betrayal… but the equipment was more critical.” 

“H-hello.” Raphitalia came out of the dressing room that Naofumi once used. Her regular unarmored clothing was simple and did not have much protection by itself. Hopefully, he would be able to protect them enough.

“Draw your knife,” Naofumi stated while she looked at him with a bit of confusion at the command. She looked cute like that in Naofumi’s personal opinion.

“Kill this,” Naofumi stated while revealing what was under the left side of his coat, an orange balloon that was comping on his body. Her face quickly changed into a panicked expression as she flinched backward in fear.

“By stabbing it. It will be the first step to your recovery.” He already knew that she had trauma in the past with monsters… it would be the starting point to where she can defeat them calmly.

“No!.” She quickly stated as the slave seal started to lightly glow… with only a single word he could have her on the ground in pain is what the thing was signaling to him. But Naofumi ignored it.

“You are in fear… It is good to feel fear, it is the first step to understanding something is stronger than you. It is the signal that something can happen at any moment. It is good to have fear. But right now it is holding you back, that trauma of yours will accompany you for the rest of your life, haunting you forever as nightmares plague your world if you don’t confront it now. So take the first step, I know that you can do it. Stab it!”

He held the ballon in his hands, another way to mitigate the fear of hitting him. She was shaking on the ground as she stared at the ballon, probably warped due to her fear… She was close to having a panic attack. But he kept saying words, both of warm encouragement and harsh talk to try and get her to do it.

After another minute of the conversation, she gained enough courage to fight through the fear. She drew the knife with trembling hands and charged at it with the knife. All she did was have it bite the implement before forcing her back, but she was still able to stand.

“Not enough, put more strength behind it and kill it!” Naofumi said in an urgent manner as she picked herself up again to attack once more. She dashed forward with a scream and thrust her knife out, popping the monster and making her fall back to the floor.

“Experience huh, how did I even get that...” Naofumi remarked while looking at the sudden popup, both atop the raccoon girl’s head and one infront of his UI.

“Probably due to setting her as a companion in the pact. Wait, you didn’t do it with the ladies before?” The smith spoke when he heard the surprise of the younger man.

“Damn it Myne… No, I didn’t know. Melina wouldn’t have known either as she never has been in any parties before.” He states with an annoyed manner… that would make sense as to another thing that should have alerted him to her betrayal.

“Another thing to figure out then… Do you know how to make that option work between non-slave members of the party?” Naofumi asked while letting the raccoon girl sit on the ground as they waited for the last one to come out of the dressing room.

“It should be an automatic thing after verbal confirmation… I am guessing you never did a formal party agreement?” Naofumi nodded at the guess.

“It goes something along the lines of asking whether a person wants to be in your party directly along with the terms and them accepting.” He stated with a calm manner, lecturing the young man on the information that he had never known. Naofumi revealed a grateful expression to the ally of his.

“Any other critical information I am missing, like the country’s religion revolving around the shared hatred of me?” Naofumi asked while seriously hoping it was not true… but he knew it was quite possible if everything was happening like this.

“Funny you should say that… The main religion of this country revolves around demonizing the Shield Hero and Praising the other three heroes. Though the country where she is from warships the Shield Hero.” The shop owner remarked with a slightly sheepish expression… in all honesty, Naofumi could already feel politics at work.

“Let me guess, they are human supremacists?” Naofumi asked with a cold tone… one that Raphitalia could not even compare to the one that she knew at the slave merchant’s tent. The weapons supplier could only nod in confirmation.

“Just great… Is the queen part of it?” Naofumi made sure to ask while also thinking to himself that the other slave was taking a fairly long time.

“No, she is part of the Four Heros Church despite the Church Of Three Heros being the national religion. It actually helps her in diplomatic missions.” He remarked while giving the hero a respite.

“So if the church were to do anything deemed endangering of the world, they would be snuffed out?” Naofumi already knew that the church would be after him from the get-go… it would seem that he needed to get all the needed materials from the church such as blessed water and maybe some sands from the dragon glass.

“Right on the money. Everything will be 18 silvers.” He quickly confirmed the respite of bad news that he was getting today. After noting the slave coming out of the dressing room, he quickly said the total of the equipment. Despite the materials needed to make the larger outfit, it was cheaper due to the lesser demand for armor for those with a smaller stature.

“Right, thanks for everything,” Naofumi stated while walking to the door, the slaves quickly following him now that he paid.

“Why didn’t you give the same trial to her?” The smith asked, noting the difference in treatment of the two.

“Besides the obvious of not wanting to waste any more of your time? She doesn’t have the same trauma as Raphitalia. It is actually a trauma that I am all too familiar with.” The man already knew what he was talking about, before the false accusation he was like pure snow, now it was like he became slightly salty due to impurities.

“All I can do is show her that she has someone to trust never to turn on her… she doesn’t have the support of a party member during that betrayal, so it is far worse,” Naofumi stated to the surprise of everyone in the room. Though Raphitalia was slowly falling asleep due to her condition and physical age.

“Right, have a good night kid.” The smith nodded as they waved to the shop owner, quickly leaving the store to rough it in the fields for a night. It is far better to get the medical plants now rather than later to heal them.

Word Count: ~2700 Words

Date Completed: 12/15/2020

Notes: Thank you for reading the chapter.

Review Cove:

Dcraus: Naofumi meet two demi-humans looking forward to the next chapter

Reply: Surprise Surprise, she is not a demi-human… You can probably guess part of her identity if you read  _ Shall I show you a True Shield? _ By Ryujin Maou (which I do recommend reading). But she is similar yet different, considering I want a scout/assassin, it felt fitting.

(Forgot to reply last time)

Guest: If Malty decides to accuse someone of rape, then it's mandatory for her to get a doctor to check to see if she was raped or not. Hopefully, you can have Motoyasu agree with the idea just to make sure she doesn't have any diseases and because he wouldn't have any choice since he genuinely cares about his partner's wellbeing. If she refuses to get checked, then it makes the audience suspicious of her.

Reply: Sadly it wouldn’t have worked all that much. She was never raped, it was only attempted sexual assault. Even then, she was not a virgin before the events. And it is known adventurers get to doing things to relieve stress.

  
  


AO3:

Robbie2413: Oh you have my interest peaked as to what you have planned.

Reply: And I hope to please.


	9. To Take The First Step

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 9**

**_Raphitalia’s Dream_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“Raphitalia… do you remember the stories of the four heroes?” Her father asked her while they sat in front of the fire… her on his lap.

“The ones with the Sword, the Bow, and the Spear… And the one with the Shield…” She states all the cardinal heroes for her parents to hear. Her mother was knitting something besides them as she listened on the conversation.

“The Shield Hero in particular has treated us quite well.” The man of the house expounded on the one who had the most positive impact on them.

“Really? I’d like to meet him.” She stares up at her father with wondrous eyes.

“If you are a good girl… I am sure you will meet him someday.” The mother spoke while putting down her needles for a few seconds. The family smiles together.

Suddenly the landscape changed, it was not the warm home within her memories. It was instead the town that she grew up in… but something far more terrifying than ever before.

Monsters ran across the streets… attacking residents indiscriminately. The skies painted were red, most likely coming from being sunset… but it cast a dangerous undertone to the entire situation.

She was running away from a certain monster… a dog with three heads with her parents behind her. But the thing leads them onto a cliff face… one that dropped into the ocean.

“We are sorry Raphatalia…” Her father’s bloody arm places itself infront of her, he is trying to shield the child as much as possible.

“We want you to live… so forgive us for this selfishness one day.” Her mother states as they all back up another step… one that caused Raphitalia to fall off the cliff. 

She watched her parents be torn up as the fangs of the three-headed monster brought down the center one to feast on it. The blood staining itself in her mind…

**_Forest Near Castle Town_ **

**_5/20/0000: 2000_ **

“Well, despite the night, they did well,” Naofumi whispered to himself as the fire cracked under his watch. He had gained some shields from the minutes that they were in the forest. The  **Fish Shield** , **Egg Shield** , **Sky Egg Shield** , and the  **Blue Egg Shield** . The  **Sky Egg Shield** did come at quite a good time when it came to preparing the fish, it is not like he is used to cooking over an open fire but  **Simple Recipe I** was able to help him.

“It is only going to get harder from here on, so savor the respite away from the storm.” He said to himself in a pondering manner, it was something said by a Des while they were playing DFO together a few days before he got transported. Something that he came back from closing his game store for the night. Gosh, it felt like it has been weeks since he got here, but it hasn’t even been one.

“Oh yeah, I have an offline mode in DFO.” He thought to himself about his old world, remembering the sudden patch that allowed the download of their characters to test stuff out in offline play, it was mainly used to figure out combos and wouldn’t affect your actual character in the server.

“I wonder if I can use the data somehow…” Naofumi pondered about the data of all his characters that was on his laptop, he backed up the characters every time he logged off so it was the latest. He even had the information of the rest of his guildmates on his hard drive, though less current when compared to his own. The only reason why he would even think of having that much data on it was due to it being Des’s gift and having an insane storage capacity, fast read and write speeds, and an extremely fast CPU.

“Wait, if Melina is here… What happened to her data on the computer?” The sudden thought made him think about the strange appearance of his Battle Mage. He hadn’t really checked in the last few days due to everything on their plates. And wouldn’t even be able to experiment till she comes back in two days.

“No please no… Father! Mother!” The sudden cries of a companion snap Naofumi into his big brother mode immediately, quickly cradling the young girl in his arms while using a soft voice to coax her back to a restful sleep.

“Shh… it is okay… there are others besides you… I am beside you…” Naofumi gently rocked the girl back and forth under his cloak. Very much like the first night in this world, he was able to get her to sleep well after a few minutes.

“Right then… should have expected this.” He casts a glance over to the other of their current group. Still sleeping soundly, she lay with the blanket he provided. She looked ready to fight immediately though… she was definitely not a nobleman’s daughter unless he was a knight or a combatant of some kind.

“Good, she didn’t have an interrupted sleep cycle… they need as much of it as they can get to become healthy,” Naofumi mumbled to himself after confirming before trying to remove Raphitalia from his body. Only for her to hold onto him like he was the only lifeline in this world… which is true not that he thought about it.

“Silly girl.” Naofumi remarks before adding some more wood to the fire and starting to blend up some cold medicine, sadly he had no containers to put them in beside the four canteens that he had on him until he looked at the leaves around him. Making sure to put the concoctions into the shield he gained the  **Small Medicine Shield** and the  **Small Poison Shield** . Tomorrow night they would be at the inn, just cause he needed to ascertain the quality of the meds that he would be making. 

Unbeknownst to Naofumi, Senka was watching the entire thing as she acted dead to the world. A slightly surprised glint in her eye as she watched the warmth the Hero gave off. She quickly shook it off in order to observe the area once more, though her reset level inhibited her ability to do so. It was not long before she fell asleep due to exhaustion.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_5/21/0000: 0700_ **

“Here, drink it.” Naofumi immediately noticed the awakening of the demi-human on his body. He quickly unscrews the cap on the liquid medicine that he made and pours it into a leaf cup that was manufactured a bit earlier.

“Bitter!” She made a face and sound as she took in the first few drops of it, immediately spitting it out. Naofumi suddenly remembered that they put sweeteners in medicine nowadays to make it more palatable.

“Sadly there is no juice at the moment. Just tough it out and drink it down as quickly as possible.” Naofumi states with a quick comment. Forcing her to take the option that would make her healthy. In the end, he had a retching raccoon girl and an empty leaf cup. He checked the canteen, only another dose of it left for the other slave.

“I know you are up, hurry up and get over here to take your medicine.” Naofumi already knew that she was up, habits that were ingrained since young did not suddenly leave you after all. Despite the stoic expression she had on her, Naofumi could tell that she was apprehensive about the medicine.

“Take it yourself or have me do it for you,” Naofumi stated when she looked at Raphitatia taking in and spitting out water in order to get rid of the after taste in her mouth… To no avail, it seems.

“ **Bleh** ” Was all he could get from her… it was far quieter than the sounds that Raphitalia made when she consumed the bitter concoction. Maybe he should have diluted it with water if it was able to elicit a reaction from her as well. She quickly did the same as her co-slave to what seemed to have no effect.

“Alright then, today we are going a bit deeper into the forest-” Was all he could get out after the comedic actions of the two before a sudden monster came out of the bushes.

“A rabbit…” That was all he could say before it immediately tried to attack Raphitalia. Naofumi quickly put his arm out to block the attack, making it bite into him much as the balloons did to him before.

“Raphitalia, stab it! Senka, scout the area now!” That was what he roared out while making sure to have a good hold on the rabbit. Senka quickly disappeared from her spot in order to look for any more threats.

“It will bleed if I do…” Raphitalia was scared, and to Naofumi that made sense. It was not like the comical beings before, no, it was a monster shaped like an animal… one that would bleed on death.

“What’s wrong? Quickly, stab it!” Naofumi yelled out again to the frightened lass.

“I am scared of blood.” And it was something that Naofumi noted, hemophobia and fear of monsters… along with what he heard from the nightmare last night allowed him to piece together the tragedy that happened to her. The seal flared to life for the first time, forcing her to the floor.

“Remember my words from before, we have no time to be frozen in fear! My responsibility is to fight the waves, and I need party members to fight alongside me right now!” Naofumi gave emphasis to the last part of his sentence. Making sure that the monster didn’t escape despite it not doing any damage to him.

“I can’t look after you when that happens if you don’t fight now!”

“You are going to fight the Catstrophey…” The one thing that stood out amongst the words he stated… something must have happened in the last one, specifically the tragedy in her past.

“It is a duty I am forced with,” Naofumi stated while taking a look at the rabbit on him… her real first blood.

“Got it…” Raphitalia quickly pulled the knife into her hands as she stood from her spot on the ground. In a manner reminiscent of the scene in the weapon’s shop, Naofumi brought out the rabbit in front of him for her to stab. With a yell, she stabbed into it, spraying blood everywhere.

“Master… I will keep on fighting for you.” Covered in blood, she looked at the young man who was only kind to her in the past day. It was very much emotional whiplash she felt from the extreme change in the situation.

“Right.” Naofumi looked at the rabbit in his hands… it slowly bled out into the ground as the scout of the group showed herself once more.

“Soundings are clear.” She stated quickly, Naofumi knew that she didn’t talk about the rabbit in order for him to get Raphitalia’s trauma under control.

_ “This really is not a game huh.” _ Naofumi once again reaffirms the thoughts running through his heads… and the resolution to not allow more blood to be spilled from him or his group. He silently broke down the corpse and put the materials into his shield… getting two different ones. The  **Usa Meat Shield** and the  **Usa Leather Shield** giving a  **Dissection Ability I** and a boost to agility.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Merchant District: Castle Town_ **

**_5/21/0000: 1300_ **

“Need a sword and a pair of daggers,” Naofumi stated while putting a sack of silvers on the counter. Remembering the distinct combat styles that the two of them showed.

“A shorter one would be best… This short sword made of iron should do right?” The smith looked through a box of swords before bringing out one that was sheathed. Raphitalia quickly picked up and unsheathed it, testing movements with it.

“Hey boss, do you know where we could go with our current equipment… not just us but Melina as well?” Naofumi asked when he returned to the counter, while the smith was looking through the box Senka was already looking through the selection of daggers he had out front. The hero had already set the map down on the counter.

“With your stuff, it would be here.” He pointed out a spot on the map, Lute Village. Naofumi took out a more transparent paper that had various markings and placed it over the map, marking the point that the shop owner pointed to.

“Alright then. Thanks for the info and gear.” Naofumi says while motioning for the two others to accompany him out of the store, after Melina finishes up with her stuff they would go over to the village.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_5/21/0000: 1330_ **

“Want one?” Naofumi asked after returning from selling the medicine to the pharmacist, after noticing Raphitalia looking at a few children playing with a ball made of what looked to be balloon pieces.

“Not at all. I don’t want it at all.” He could see the quickly moving tail behind her… it was blatantly telling him that she wanted one. He gave a good-natured smile as the cute act was playing before him.

“You can play with it after we get done working,” Naofumi said with a smile after getting one from the nearby seller. Lightly tossing it into her arms to allow her to play with it while they walked to the inn.

“What are you looking at on Senka?” Naofumi observed the young woman with slightly curious eyes as she watches the shadows with a strong gaze… only he would notice now that he got a day to develop a profile of her tells. No matter how well trained in being monotonous… they still have personal habits.

“Nothing sir…” She silently glared at the shadow for a few more seconds before responding. She silently looked back at him with the same emotionless face. If it were not for being real-life, Naofumi would have thought that the shadows she was glaring at were sweating.

“Good day Athena.” Naofumi nodded at the young woman before him, tomorrow is when Melina would be coming back. She smiled at the young man in a graceful smile that was extremely familiar to him… almost as if he witnessed it every day for years.

“Good day Naofumi… how many rooms for tonight?” The young woman of the Aegis inn asked quickly. She already knew Melina paid for a room here and left some money for a single room and a meal.

“Two… and if Melina is coming back tonight, three,” Naofumi remarked with a smile of his own.

“New party members?” She already knew that he would usually place two to a room, and if he is renting three rooms, then he has two new ones.

“Yes, slaves… though I should ask for your stance on the matter.” Naofumi quickly remembered that some inns didn’t allow for slaves in their buildings… sometimes even forcing them into horse stables.

“They can't stay in their own room sadly… you will have to share it with the two. And personally… I see slavery as barbaric a majority of the time. But I see why you would have to use them.” Naofumi nodded with a relieved expression… so no personal hostility, and he could get why slaves were in their owner’s room… security was a big thing boasted here.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

“Alright, I got our room…” Naofumi immediately noticed two boys playing with a ball… and Raphitatlia missing her own. He immediately put the strings together.

“Did no one teach you to never steal another’s property?” Naofumi asked with a cold expression that he swiftly changed to… it was getting easier and easier to switch to it on will he realized.

“She isn’t human… so she doesn’t have any property.” One of the boys said with the other nodding along.

“Maybe I should give you a bit of punishment for taking something that is not yours… and besides, would you really say that to foreign kings who happen to be Demi-Human?” Naofumi stated as he slowly walked forward, his aura becoming scary.

“Quick, run!” Raphitalia was the one to warn them, and they almost laughed her off if it weren’t for the cold expression on his face. She really is a calm caring one. The boys dropped the ball and ran.

“You really are able to feel kindness huh…” Naofumi said in an amused expression, all he would have done was knock the kids on the upside of the heads. He looked over at Senka… it would seem that she was focusing on scouting instead of dealing with a playground squabble in her eyes.

“We are teammates now… it is good for us to watch each other’s backs,” Naofumi remarked while rubbing his temples after bopping her on the head due to not helping Raphitalia.

“Now come on, we need to test your new weapons. I have paid for the night and meals.” With the final remark, all of them left to the meadows to get some more money.

Word Count: ~2900 Words

Date Completed: 12/17/2020

Note: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

Review Cove:

FFN:

Dcraus: hat and malty be tramaizted a person who were rape victims would months or years to recovered from their trauma like this

Reply: And of course that… even if they didn’t have a clue ‘bout mental health back then… and how to treat it.

AO3:

Robbie2413: Let me guess the new one is from Dungeon Fighter Online. So then Naofumi here is a lot more knowledgeable than canon Naofumi.

Ya know I somehow just got this feeling that in total with the way you are writing this in its sections it will most likely be over 50 chapters by the time you reach the second wave of Melromarc.

Also, it's a long story to Season 1 of Rising of the Shield Hero. Can you tell me it in 25 parts~? LOL RvB joke

In all seriousness, if you were to keep 6 chapters per episode you would most likely total this out at 150 chapters. That is if you plan to follow canon Naofumi's path.

I wonder if it would be wrong to assume that Naofumi is going to totally give the Three Heroes Church untold destruction AKA the ass kick of the century?

Reply: First up… Senka is not from Dungeon Fighter Online… though she might get some skills from it and with me taking a bit of inspiration from the Ranger’s Apprentice Series by John Flanagan. If you are talking about Melina, then yes, she is from DFO… mostly.

The funny thing about it… I am actually going a bit faster than the pace of the Light Novels. But as things progress, I will be speeding up, hopefully. I am still working on world-building in the first chapters after all. (There is also the fact that EP 1 was almost an hour-long)

And finally, let's just say that the Church battle is not going to be only just Naofumi taking the major magic attacks while waiting for the good queen to provide reinforcements.


	10. In The Mine With My Companions

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 10**

**_Aegis Inn: Castle Town_ **

**_5/22/0000: 0800_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“One kid’s meal, two of the chef’s recommendations please.” Naofumi went with a regular order in his mind. It was not like he could read what the menu stated. And he also knew that Raphitalia would not really know the language either.

“Like this,” Naofumi said while repositioning the spoon in her hand, making the unfamiliar gesture that one associated with food. He quickly demonstrated how he ate with the grip. He quickly did the same for Senka who was having a few issues with her movements… The two looked a lot better now that he cut their hair. He even got a new shield out of it.

  
  


“So these are our teammates huh…” A familiar voice came through as the young mage of the party walked to them in her Teana form. Melina observed the two with a critical eye… especially the young human woman. Despite the obvious starvation that she went through, she had the physique of an agility fighter… like Nix.

“Not like I can say anything about being untrained… I literally fell whenever I charged at something with my spear.” She said with a good-natured chuckle as she got her usual breakfast order. The others had stopped eating to look at her while Naofumi just ate the food in order to memorize the tastes of the ingredient combination.

“Well, mister trainer… let’s see how well you did yesterday.” That was what she said before starting to eat quickly. Naofumi just motioned for them to finish their meals… it was best to ease them back into full courses if he went too fast they would just get sick instead.

“As you probably guessed, this is the most senior member of the party besides myself, Melina Pandemonium.” She just pouted slightly at the insinuation of her age, she was only 16 after all.

“So, what are you trying to get them to be?” She asked with some interest, somehow speaking despite the copious amount of food that she is eating.

“For Raphitalia, the raccoon girl, Sword Master. As for Senka, a scout. Though in particular, a Ranger.” Naofumi already knew that she did not discriminate against anything really. Though she did have a fiery temper when it came to hurting her allies… but that came with more physical classes anyway.

“So, you got what I requested?” Naofumi asked while finishing off the rest of his plate.

“Got the holy water easily… the sand however I was not able to get… despite it generating a new amount every time a wave ends. Thankfully I played it off as magic research purposes to throw them off the trail.” She pats the rucksack beside her with a smile on her face.

“Turns out the national religion has me as the demon…” Naofumi remarked with an annoyed expression as the two others felt a bit of a disconnect from the conversation going on… especially Raphitalia.

“Well… that sucks, it seems that you will have only one chance in there. It seems that you can only rank up with a dragon hourglass. So either a single time there, going to another country or finding an abandoned one.” She said while finishing her own meal.

“Rank up?” The first time he had heard of the world exclusive detail in the people of the world.

“We get classes the cap at level 100… but then you need to do a Class Upgrade, which I call rank up, inorder increase your stats and get a new class to level up.

“I get the feeling that would have blindsided me… thanks for investigating Melina.” She just grinned as they stood up from their table and stretched out their bodies.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Forest Near Castle Town_ **

**_5/22/0000: 1000_ **

“Now that we are away from prying eyes…” Naofumi brought the three grades of holy water to his shield. The swift unlocking of three shields was what greeted his eyes. Only one was equipable by him at the moment.

“ **Shield Of Blessings I** ” Naofumi changed his shield into the first of the three in the line. A shield similar to the small shield he started out with was what appeared. It was white in coloration and had golden accents in the form of angel wings. He immediately felt the rage that hid itself weaken slightly.

It was bigger than it, however, if it were in the same orientation as the small shield, it would have reached his bicep and about 4 inches from his hands. It provided far more defense than any other shield before it. The mastery bonus was  **Light Healing Magic Affinity Up** … which mainly helped with curing curses. 

But it had something that all the other shields didn’t, a Signature Skill. From the sudden help popup, Signature Skills only were available while equipping a shield.  **Holy Water Creation I** granted by  **Shield Of Blessings I** allowed him to make low-grade holy water with SP.

“Isn’t that Ellen’s shield?” It is exactly like the Savior’s signature shield. Though the emblem of wings and a halo were not on the original’s shield. That and the lack of a floating sigil made of light.

“It is different… extremely similar though,” Naofumi stated while testing his movements with it, like when he was summoned before, he was quickly getting used to the new shield.

“Well, we need to figure out spells then,” Naofumi remarked while putting it on the list of things in his mind, though now he got medical crafting supplies crossed out.

“Anyway, it is time to see whether we can work as a cohesive unit. Besides my defense, roles must be split up.” Naofumi started putting his head into the planning stages. They needed more ranged fighters, archers mages. There was no one in the backline. They now had three close-range damage dealers and a defender. Though Melina could switch to any position after gaining chasers.

“Right then, Melina, Raphitalia, and I are on the vanguard. Senka is our scout/harasser.” Naofumi stated while standing up, motioning for the other two to stand behind him.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

“15 enemies spotted. Rushing towards the front of the formation.” Her report was swift as she observed from her main force position. Naofumi quickly brought the attention to himself by knocking loudly on his shield, if it were fighting against human enemies it would be harder.

“Main priority is Melina getting chasers, Raphitalia, keep restrained for a bit while she does so. Senka, intervene when both are overwhelmed.” Naofumi quickly stated while blocking several of the attacks from the assortment of monsters, the  **Shield Of Blessings I** helped with its larger surface.

“Right!” Melina was quick to do several sweeps with her spear, doing a moderate amount of damage to each of them as the magical orbs appeared behind her. Raphitalia quickly cut one that was about to run off as Naofumi blocked the attacks to the mage.

“Melina, switch to mid and provide support, Raphitalia, switch into the main attacker.” Naofumi quickly ordered while covering the backstepping mage. He really needed a taunt skill in order to fight properly.

“Raphitalia!” Naofumi shouted while blocking a chain of 5 enemies, Raphitalia quickly slashes the monsters without much fuss though her movement with the sword was a bit slow.

“20 more enemies incoming, 20 degrees right at 15 seconds,” Senka reports while knifing a monster that got within Melina’s guard, saving her from using a chaser. That gave them enough time to finish the 15 original monsters.

“Melina, send a chaser out now. They are grouped well enough.” Naofumi quickly ordered, to which the spear user obliged. A group of 8 were all damaged by the first chaser that she had.

“Raphitalia, attack the rightmost position. I’ll defend flank.” Naofumi stated as the child quickly rushed the right corner of the enemy forces, though it was more like a bunch of groups packed together.

“Right.” Raphitalia slashed the 5 monster group off to the edge, showing a very quick growth in her swordsmanship has progressed between the two attacks. The combat progressed like that a few times with all of them getting comfortable with the other’s movements.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Town Of Lute_ **

**_5/23/0000: 1000_ **

“So, how much is it?” Naofumi asked the merchant with a calm tone, Melina was at his side to act aking to a guard of his. The other two were slightly away from them, close enough incase a fight were to break out.

“Bout two silvers in all.” The merchant appraising the rabbit fur stated it was a fairly well-cut piece of fur, something that Naofumi’s  **Dissection** helped with.

“Right… Do you know of anywhere that we can earn money quickly?” Naofumi asked now that he knew the merchant wouldn’t rip them off.

“The ores from the mine over there would fetch a decent amount but…” The man with a bandana said while looking over at the most glaring area in the village.

“What is the catch?” Naofumi asked as Melina was doing the silent bodyguard act that she was forced into with a game of rock paper scissors.

“It was overrun with monsters from the first wave… no one dares to approach it any more.” He remarked with an annoyed tone at the reminder.

“I see.” Naofumi looked with an appraising eye, it would be close-quarter combat mainly, and chasers would be a bad idea to use… at least the larger ones.

“Seriously… I don’t even know what our summoned “Heros” are even doing.” He remarked with a shrug… Naofumi felt that the others were not doing a good job, though he knew that they were still strengthening themselves. They had left far before he did though. He needed to find a way to stay in contact with Itsuki though.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Outskirts Of Lute Village: Abandoned Mine: Entrance_ **

**_5/23/0000: 1230_ **

Naofumi had finished his lunch before the others in order to try absorbing anything that was left behind in the miner’s shack. The last user was dead and anything inside was a free game.

“Let’s see…” Naofumi looked at what was inside the warehouse, several pickaxes, a coil of rope, and finally, a sharpening stone like one would use on knives or swords.

“Nice…” Naofumi quickly put all of the items in, getting in return a set of three shields.  **Pickaxe Shield** ,  **Rope Shield** , and  **Sharpening Shield** .  **Mining I** ,  **Air Strike Shield** , and  **Sharpening I** were the mastery bonuses of each shield.  **Air Strike Shield** created a shield in front of a target.  **Mining I** showed a higher concentration of ores.  **Sharpening I** allowed him to sharpen weapons better.

However, the  **Rope Shield** and the  **Sharpening Shield** both had Signature skills.  **Rope** , which allowed the shield to dispense a rope that will latch onto an object, and  **Automatic Sharpening** , allowing a large consumption of SP over 8 hours to result in the placed weapon being sharpened and regaining a good condition.

“Let’s try it…  **Rope Shield** ,  **Air Strike Shield** !” Naofumi quickly switched to the named shield and quickly used its skill. A glowing green transparent shield about as tall as himself was created a few feet infront of him.

“Got a new skill huh… That might help us in battle better.” Melina remarked from the door into the room. 

Naofumi already mastered all the older shields and got their bonuses, the ones like the **Balloon** **Series** didn’t really take all that much time. Only about 30 minutes in total of equipping each. Using skills that came with the shields also hastened Mastery. The stronger the shield, the more mastery was needed in order to master it.

“More options are good,” Senka stated as she made herself known to him.

“Alright then, let’s head down,” Naofumi stated, trying to keep his inner otaku in check now that he has a big glowing shield to defend with. Though Melina and Senka could tell he was slightly excited by the prospect. He changed to the  **Pickaxe Shield** to gain mastery as they went down.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)__

“Master… what should I call you?” Raphitalia asked while holding one of the three pickaxes that were in the shack. Naofumi paid no mind to it as he carried one of the torches into the mine.

“Call me whatever you like, this knucklehead can’t even decide a Nickname herself.” Naofumi pointed at Melina without even stopping his steps. The other two easily keep up with him. They were also holding pickaxes as well. She just stuck her tongue out at him.

“It seems we are here,” Naofumi stated while looking across the cave, putting out the torch to save on fuel. They didn’t need any more light considering the crystals were the main light source.

“To make it a bit easier on us, Senka, Melina. You are going to be in your own pair, mine up the obvious deposits of materials. Raphitalia you are with me. You are going to be looking out for monsters as I mine.” Naofumi looked at his mastery progress, only another 15 minutes out of the original 1 hour.

“Right then, see you in a few hours,” Melina states while walking away, merrily holding her pick as Senka follows behind her. Naofumi turns to Raphitalia with a warm smile.

“Let’s get going, can’t have them getting more than us,” Naofumi stated with a good-natured voice. She nodded in determination.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

Naofumi swung the pick into the light blue crystalline ore. A green cursor was above it, much like the red ones that appeared over enemies that he noticed. He, after picking up the ore, noticed his pickaxe shield mastery was finished. The raccoon girl noticed dog tracks on the cave floor.

“This will catch us a pretty penny.” Naofumi already got one earlier to put into his shield, unlocking the  **Light Metal Shield** . Raphitalia stared at the two-headed monster that walked forward from the depths of the mines. She dropped to the ground as its image flickered with the one in her nightmares.

“No!!!” Raphitalia yelled out, causing Naofumi to immediately turn from his work, already switching to the  **Rope Shield** . He quickly noticed the two-headed dog jumping at her.

He quickly brought the girl into his arms before jumping off the cliff, much like the time Raphitalia fell off during the first wave. He immediately knew something was different in her reaction to this particular monster.

“You alright?” Naofumi reeled himself to a rock spire with  **Rope** , both of them were wet with the underground lakewater. Making sure to have a good grip on her, he didn’t mind the water.

“Dog monster… killed the villagers. Even mother and father.” She sobbed lightly as he carried her in a fireman’s carry. He observed the dog with two heads jumping down the rocks to them.

Word Count: ~2500 words

Date Completed: 12/18/2020

Note: And it is left on a cliffhanger. Hope you all enjoyed it.

FFN:

  
  


None

  
  


AO3:

Robbie2413: Those 2 kids ran since Raphtalia warned them to was for naught if it was a smack upside the head. Kinda like a Gibb slap.

I am not too familiar with DFO because I never played it so I'm in the dark.

So Senka glares at the shadows... The Melromarc Shadows.... why do I feel like that Senka was a Shadow? There is a parallel between this story and Shall I Show You a True Shield? by RyujinMaou. That parallel seems to become more and more apparent. In the story, Naofumi buys a human from Beloukules who turns out to be a captured Shadow of the Queen and she knows about the Shadows as well, she does tell Naofumi and well there are some hard feelings between her and the Shadows. 17 chapters and RyujinMaou is at the part in canon where Naofumi faints due to the blood loss of using Blood Sacrifice you should read it, it is really good. Anyway back onto the train, so why would Senka be glaring at the Shadows if she wasn't one of them formally or otherwise? Why does it seem like she has a slight grudge against them? I mean they are sweating LOL.

Wow yeah, this was a really long train of thought. Anyways good chapter, I always look forward to seeing the next one.

Response: Well, it at least taught them to not harass people… maybe. Children are idiots.

Fair enough, I haven't even played it myself for a while, and haven't even played the newest dungeons on it. I am mainly winging it cause there is no real talk about the story on youtube… as much as i wish there was.

From my reply to Dcraus back in chapter 8.  _ Surprise Surprise, she is not a demi-human… You can probably guess part of her identity if you read Shall I show you a True Shield? By Ryujin Maou (which I do recommend reading). But she is similar yet different, considering I want a scout/assassin, it felt fitting.  _ There are two factions of Shadows following Naofumi at the moment.


	11. Facing Nightmares

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 11**

**_Abandoned Mine_ **

**_5/23/0000: 1300_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“Alright, Raphitalia, is it the same monster that killed your village?” Naofumi made sure to keep an eye on the most emanate threat… though he had to wonder, what did dog meat taste like and what was the best way to prepare it?

“No.” She was still pressing her face into his armor. The dog that looked like a merger of two Dobermans was slowly getting closer to them. Naofumi quickly used the rope to climb onto a flat plane.

“Listen… Killing this monster here and now will allow us to grow stronger… strong enough to fend off the Waves and prevent a similar tragedy from happening to another family. Your parents are dead, hoping you stay alive… but right now, you can start on the path of keeping other children from experiencing the same thing.

“And right now… all I am able to do is help you fight to your fullest ability. Naofumi jumped on the small outcrop and onto the more stable flat. The dog stared at the young man for a few moments before charging in to take a bite of him.

“No…” He could only block the left head with the rope shield. Allowing the other head to bite him, eliciting the illusion of the same event that happened to her parents.

“Raphitalia… Slay it! Stab it with your sword!. Hurry!” Naofumi gritted his teeth as blood started pouring out… it seemed that his defense was not up to the level 15 monster’s attack.

“No…” Raphitalia sat on the ground with her traumatized eyes staring at the startling familiar scene. The switching of the reality infront of her and the memory of her parents’ death freezing her in place.

“I know if you are unable to do it now… run away then. I can last a few more minutes until I have to switch shields.” He knew the  **Shield Of Blessings** would be able to strengthen his defense far more than the  **Rope Shield** that he had equipped right now. He could see the Mastery progress rising at a fast rate only a few more seconds of blocking before he could switch.

“Thad be just like then…” Raphitalia felt that scene from the nightmare creeping into her vision, she stood up, holding her sword in her hands, though it was in a grip far too firm to be effective.

“Hurry and run, I will catch up to you later. Get the other two together and we can fight it together.” Naofumi stated as the monster bit into him once more, eliciting a grunt of pain. Thankfully he had unlocked and mastered a bunch of shields otherwise he would have been in far worse of a condition.

“Don’t go… Don’t Die!” Raphitalia felt the illusion of first her parents walking into the void… then Naofumi after that. She picked up her body, loosened her grip a bit before jumping at the dog monster. Stabbing it into the head that was occupied by the shield, but it trashed her away.

“ **Air Strike Shield** ” Naofumi waited for the best moment before deploying the disembodied shield. The monster crashed heads first into the wall, stunning it for another attack.

“Raphitalia!” Naofumi yelled, the silent order already understood, she stabbed the heart of the beast, the force of the blood pushing her back with the sword still lodged into the body. It quickly died due to blood loss.

“Naofumi-Sama!” She rushed into his arms, not caring about the wound in her relief at them both being alive. Naofumi was just glad that her trauma was mostly healed now despite the pain.

“Not so tight, despite the shield, I am still injured,” Naofumi stated with a good-natured smile while patting her head. Keeping the pain out of his voice for the most part.

“Don’t die, please don’t die.” She cried into his chest as he patted her head in order for her to let the release of her emotions happen naturally.

“That is why You attack, I defend. Don’t hesitate or one of us will live to regret for a few moments longer till we embrace death.” Naofumi said with a calming tone, making sure to grab bandages and some distilled water to clean his wound.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

“So… what took you two so long to get over here?” Naofumi asked while dissecting the Dog into pieces so that the shield can absorb it better. He looked at the heads and felt that both of them were needed to unlock a new shield. Senka saw the state her master was in and already started changing the bandages he put on earlier.

“Sorry bout that, we got caught up fighting some monsters There was a whole lot of them but we were able to kill them all,” Melina said with a grin while bringing two bags in, one filled with the monster parts and the other with ores. 

“Oh yeah, Melina, read through this ritual. We need to do it in order to share exp.” Naofumi quickly gave her a paper when remembering the smith’s explanation on why he got experience from Raphitalia in the shop.

“Cool, I request to be your companion on your journey.” She read it out without even thinking about it.

“I accept you into my party as the companion I shall fight beside,” Naofumi responded off the top of his head. It was not like it was really structured or needed a set string of words.

“So, let this pact be kept.” They both said at the end, Naofumi immediately got an alert from the shield as a new companion was shown. There was now an icon beside her quick status in the corner of his vision. One shared by the other two, but the slaves also had an extra symbol denoting their status as slaves.

“So, how much did you get?” Naofumi asked them while putting the two dog heads into the shield, unlocking the  **Two-Headed Dog Head Shield** with it. He tried out some meat and skin, but neither elicited a real reaction from the shield, leading him to conclude that was all he would get from the monster.

“25 ore clusters.” It was Senka that said the number… to him Melina would not really count things like this so it would make sense for Senka to keep track. It was mostly insect monsters that came after them it would seem.

“That is good, could only get two, one already in the shield, before the Orthrus ambushed us,” Naofumi responded quite easily, it looked like Senka grew quite a bit, and looked a lot healthier than before. Not quite a healthy weight yet.

“So what did you get from the dog?” Naofumi didn’t want to deal with other monsters right now, especially when they could be attacked.

“The  **Two-Headed Dog Shield** , it had two skills, the Mastery skill was  **Alert Shield** , alerts me when an enemy is within 20 meters.  **Dog Bite** is a counter-attack Signature skill.” Naofumi stated while switching from the  **Shield Of Blessings I** to the newly gained shield. It really helped with the fight.

“I got the mastery of the  **Pickaxe Shield** and the **Rope Shield** ,” Naofumi stated as the assassin finished up her work on his wound, tightening up the knot more than needed. He just winced at it, this would be her way of telling him that she was displeased with his actions. Though how she got this affectionate was something he wondered. It had only been a few days before that and she was slightly hostile to him before he even bought her.

“Alright, I think everyone is hungry from fighting so much… I’ll make some dog kababs.” Both of the slaves look interested in the prospect of Naofumi’s cooking. Senka immediately started a fire so that he could actually cook. Raphilatia went into Naofumi’s bag to grab the camping setup… or more specifically the cooking implements.

“What has got you two into a rush?” Due to never having Naofumi’s cooking, Melina just stared at the two who were rushing to prepare for the meal in confusion. The sight was kinda strange with an adult man and a child just staring at another adult and a small girl set up a pot on a tripod.

They just looked at her as if she said something scaraligous. They had bought the implements with their hard-earned allowance and did not trouble Naofumi about it… despite him having the tools farther down on the list of items he would buy later.

“Alright then… stew it is. Honestly, you two eat quite a bit. Raphitalia has become quite big as well.” Due to the sudden amount of leveling, Raphitalia matured quite quickly due to being a Demi-Human who grew up as she leveled.

“Don’t make it sound like I got fat Naofumi-Sama.” She pouted as the man started observing the pot, it would be several hours of being in the cave.

“By the way… should I reveal that it was me who cleared out the cave?” Naofumi asked with a pondering tone, keeping the contents of the pot from burning with consistent stirring.

“That would be a good idea… it would seem that bad rumors of you doing harm have been surfacing,” Senka said with a calm tone. How she knew about that with very limited time away from him was a question that Naofumi decided not to ask.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Fields Of Castle Town_ **

**_5/30/0000: 0900_ **

Naofumi just clicked his tongue while pulling a porcupine spike out of his arm and absorbing it into the shield. It somehow got past his defense stat. And he knew that the porcupine monster couldn’t bite through the stat.

“You should have known that there would be a monster with Armour penetration you know… those cotton sleeves won’t do much to physically block stuff after all,” Melina said while observing the two other party members running around and attacking.

“I know… just didn’t expect it to be a porcupine…” Naofumi looked at the shield he gained after getting all the needles into the shield, with the one in his arm acting as the last one.  **Animal Needle Shield** had a mastery of 1 attack and a Signature skill called  **Needle Shield (Small)** which was basically thorns, when an attack hit the shield, it would do damage to the attacker.

“Milord.” Senka quickly spoke up.

“ **Shield Prison** ” Naofumi quickly used a skill he gained from absorbing some piping. The  **Pipe Shield** had the mastery skill  **Shield Prison** a skill that had a cage of shields surround the target. Good for defense and trapping enemies. The porcupine was trapped within the ball of shields.

Raphitalia quickly cut the monster in two, the meat probably tasted horrible anyway.

“You two leveled up again…” Naofumi muttered while absorbing the rest of the porcupine-like monster, not even bothering to dissect it now. Raphitalia smiled at him as he poured some medicine into the wound to clean it before bandaging it.

“Hai…” Raphitalia was now about chest height rather than the waist height when they were in the cave, looking far more like an adult than when Naofumi did when they came to the world. She looked like a human woman in her twenties. Though Naofumi himself looked older than his actual age as well.

“Well, your daggers are done Senka.” Naofumi brought out the two knives in his shield, giving them back to their scout… though to him it was probably unnecessary as they were going to get new equipment today.

“Right…” She flicked both daggers into the air, having them spin a few times before catching them. She quickly did a few slashes in both back and forward grips to get used to the new feeling.

“I am thinking of getting you a new pair of daggers and a bow…” Naofumi stated, they were in extreme need of a backline at the moment. Too many of them were front line fighters. Melina worked great at the middle and back lines but got annoyed when going into the back lines. She liked to get up close and personal after all. And the situation of their cheap equipment was dragging on them.

“Why the bow?” Her unemotional tone was far better at expressing herself than a week earlier. Though he knew that she could revert to unemotional cold tones when any matter needed him to.

“Being backline in a pinch while harassing attackers while on the outskirts of the formation,” Naofumi replied it seemed that people usually were set into a role and didn’t tend to shift. Though he would like Melina to learn dagger skills or Raphitalia to learn spear skills, both of them would refuse.

“I see.” She stated while playing with her daggers a bit more before sheathing them. She had only been using them for a week and it already felt like she had a lifetime with them.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Erhard’s Smithy_ **

**_5/30/0000: 1200_ **

“Haven’t seen you all in a week… and my you have become a sight.” The smith said while looking at the young women besides the hero… specifically the two slaves. One was but a child and the other was so malnourished that she could have dropped dead from starvation any second. Now two beautiful women with extremely healthy figures were standing before him

“So… what have you been up to the past week?” The smith asked as Naofumi took the chance to seriously observe the two. Both of them were grown-ups, but the stark difference from what they once were was hard to connect.

“I have been learning table manners to keep up with everyone,” Raphitalia spoke as Naofumi changed his focus to the shop once more. Of course, there were new weapons and armor on the shelves, but a new addition of a dark blue cloak was sitting on one of the stands.

“You grew up so much… not like the pipsqueak that you were before.” The smith gave a good-natured laugh that caused the youngest of them chronologically to pout.

“I am shocked that this country is full of lolicons…” Naofumi said while looking at Melina and Raphitalia. While he could understand getting free stuff in adult forms… the amount of stuff they got while in their child forms was far more than that.

“Hey, kid… don’t you know how demi-humans mature?” The man asked while leaning on the counter.

“Boss! We aren’t here for that. We need to get armor for Naofumi-Sama.” Raphitalia put an end to that conversation as Melina tried extremely hard not to laugh at the absurd situation.

“Do you have any recommendations?” Senka was also nodding along to the thought that Naofumi needed better armor. The last fight was particular in that regard.

“What are you talking about? We are here for your girls’ equipment.” Naofumi stated with a slightly exasperated tone.

“I understand your thoughts about that… but think about yourself first. Think about that time in the plains.” Raphitalia just pointed at his face as she said so. Naofumi just took a glance at the still nodding brunette.

“But we really need to get you a weapon…” Naofumi trailed off at her gaze.

“Naofumi-Sama… you need to stop messing around… Otherwise, you will die.” She finished pointing at him and supported her last statement by grabbing a sword that was behind her. The others couldn’t help but think that she was doing it on purpose and had staged the entire thing.

“Boss this looks pretty sharp!” She observed the sword in her grasp, shining the lights of the day around as she moved it.

“Magic iron tends to be like that… that reminds me. Girl, how is your spear?” The smith remembers the spear that was given to Melina before. She brought over the floating spear that she used as a magical focus. It was still in good condition due to Naofumi’s regular use of the  **Sharpening Shield** .

“Hmm… it is still good to use… what is your level?” The smith asked while keeping in mind the recommended level of the spear.

“I am level 20 right now.” She said with a smile, she was the highest out of the group level wise.

“I recommend upgrading to a Magic Steel Spear sooner or later. Or just find some ore to allow me to make one for you.” Naofumi thought for a moment… The spear is still good to use for her level and the condition is good. Though it might be a good idea to get a backup to switch to. The main issue was space.

Word Count: ~2800

Date Completed: 12/19/20

Note: Thank you all for enjoying… and sorry for the sudden time skip.

Review Cove:

FFN:

Arraia: Perfect and update soon please

will naofumi buy multiple monster eggs instead of the canon in which he only buys one?

Reply: I can only upload once a day for a limited amount of time sadly… and I don’t know when it will stop being feasible.

As for the monster eggs, there will be more after Filo. Just not in the set that the Slave Seller first showed to Naofumi. He does have a bit of min-max thought patterns, so after getting the shields in the Monster User and Slave User series, he will be getting more.

RedBurningDragon: I thought people cap at 40 (baring the hero) before class up

Reply: That was me forgetting to change the number… though I should have done research more thoroughly and put it in my notes. But 100 was just the standard placeholder that I used. I will be using chunks of level 40 per class.

AO3:

Scorpionalpha: Perfect and update soon please

Will naofumi has pets?

Reply: Very much the same question as Arraia. And the same answers as well. I won’t be able to consistently do daily chapters, look at all my other works’ dates completed if you want to get an idea about that.

And yes, Naofumi will have pets.

Robbie2413: Well, another good chapter. Guess I missed you mentioning that. Whoops.

Next up Raphtalia kills the dog monster, right?

Reply: Well, if you aren't reading my replies, then yes, yes it might be a surprise. As for Raphitalia… well she is now over the truma… mostly.


	12. Conversations In Church

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 12**

**_Erhard’s Smithy_ **

**_5/30/0000: 1200_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“Our budget is around 180 silvers.” After a bit of conversation between everyone but Senka, who was also browsing daggers to use later.

“How about that.” He looked over at a suit of armor sitting by a wall. Naofumi and co looked at the shining piece of metal.

“Too bulky, and the helmet would have me lack visuals,” Naofumi stated after turning back to the smith. The others just nod at the reasoning, he needed good sight of the battlefield to be a good commander.

“Yeah, it would also make Naofumi-Sama’s individuality suffer,” Raphitalia stated. Melina was also snickering at the thought of him in the suit of plate armor and Senka just nodded in agreement.

“Well, I can make something custom if you really need it. It would only be made from materials lying around. Or anything you could provide me.” Naofumi immediately remembered the Hound Leather that he had gained last week, it might be good for some kind of magic to be imbued into it. Though it would be later on the list due to his expectation that magical equipment would be expensive.

“Here.” Naofumi pushed over a bag of their monster materials, placing it onto the counter so they could save a bit more money. The contents spread out on the counter, various hides, feathers, and other parts besides the meats that came from monsters in the general vicinity.

“...” Senka also brought out another bag, one that was from their mining expedition. Alongside the 30 pieces of light metal ore, there was also copper and iron in their raw states as a substantial amount of bulk in the bag. In total they had actually mined a bit more after that day with the dog, netting them 71 pieces in total, but they sold 40 and used 1 in the shield.

“Ho… Some light metal as well? And in this much amount too…” The smith had to know where his metals were coming from, and one of the few places nearby was overrun with monsters, the same town he recommended that they go to.

“We also have some Two-Headed Dog Leather, is it good for physical defense or Magical defense?” Naofumi asked while bringing up a bag with more valuable stuff. They needed to get as powerful as possible in the short amount of time left.

Now that he thought of it, he had an extra memory stick in his backpack. It might be a good idea to copy some of the character guides and have the stick with the data to be absorbed to see what happens. He wondered if the Shield would be able to read that data.

“It is very easy to imbued with magic… if you got mostly intact whole skin you could probably make a good pair of dog leather cloaks if you really needed to. But you need another person to do that despite my well-rounded ability.” The smith remarks while shaking his head, Naofumi already knew that he would be unable to enchant it.

“Thanks, we’ll come back tomorrow,” Naofumi said while paying for the new weapons. He suddenly realized while they played with their weapons… all he and they have been doing since he arrived in this world is fighting. The Owner of the shop just waved at them as they left the store.

“You all are free for the rest of the day… I need to figure out how to read.” Naofumi said after pondering for a few seconds while walking around the town. It was something incredibly restrictive when only the slaves in the group could read… He felt like he was missing a bunch of details.

“Athena then? We can pay her to teach us if need be.” Melina said with a sigh, she is a fighter at heart, but she was also a mage before anything else. If she wasn’t book smart then what was she doing with her life?

“Right, you two have your allowances, don’t get caught doing anything dangerous. And please, be safe.” Naofumi stated while looking at the two slaves who would be having a break for the rest of the day. They both nodded, though Raphitalia looked more confused than anything.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Church Of The Three Heroes_ **

**_5/30/0000: 1230_ **

“It’s her… I thought she was killed.”

“Don’t you think she failed a mission?”

“What? She failed? But she was the most talented of us!”

“I heard that she was going into a shadow group… but to think that…”

“Shh, don’t let her hear you, even if she failed, she is still able to murder everyone in this room despite her level being rest.”

The various nuns spoke in whispers as Senka walked into the church. None could decipher her gaze, not even the people who are the most knowledgeable in reading Stoic faces. She was almost an alien to them now.

“You good to talk?” One of the younger nuns spoke to the odd one out in the church, no one would usually come during lunchtime after all. A young woman with silver hair, barely discernible due to the habit. She motioned to a group of other nuns.

“Sure.” Her voice now had much more infliction, she knew what faction of the church that this particular group of nuns came from, they could be trusted. The nun looked surprised at the emotion in her voice before smiling.

They moved off to an enclosed room before silence spells were used in order to keep darkened ears out of their conversation. Senka looked around, it was a fairly standard dorm room that nuns stayed in, she knew if she were to look into any of the trunks, she would find many valuables along with beautiful clothing. Though she never really had much interest in that.

“Alright spill, what are you doing back here… I never thought I would see you again…” The nun from earlier seemed to be the head of the group. She silently brought her fingers to her lips before opening the top of her armor somewhat, showing the red seal. Everyone in the room looked horrified at the mark on one of their kin.

“Dumped me into a slave merchant’s hand after resetting level, my master found me on my last legs before rescuing me.” Her voice is extremely calm despite the horrid thing that happened to her.

“Wait they turned you into a slave!” One of the nuns looked like she was about to throw up at the revelation. They did not interact with the darker elements of the church, despite all of them coming from different parts of it. She knew one, in particular, had come from Lute Village as well, one that Naofumi helped while he was there.

“Failure was not an option, I was supposed to plant false evidence about the supposed rape. But it wasn’t used, so they discarded me. I didn’t know enough to warrant killing with their own hands.”

“Supposed rape case… The Shield Hero!” One of the nuns quickly realized the only real rape case in the past few days was the one about the Shield Hero. They quickly thought about everything, even if they doubted the announcement from the throne, one of their own was stating something damning about that particular accusation.

“Correct, I was starved for several days before they put me into the Slave Merchant’s hands. Thankfully Master was able to save me and nurture me back to good health.” No food for several days straight was something that could not be easily helped with.

“Wait for a second… who is your master?” Senka could feel that their opinions in the church were slipping, though it was not much for a bunch of outcasts like them.

“Naofumi Iwatani. The Shield Hero.” She decided to drop the bomb on them… mainly cause she would get some amusement out of it. She started to find the expressions people make amusing.

“The Shield Devil…?” One of the more entrenched ones spoke with a trailing off, only for Senka to glare at her with the frost of the arctic.

“I would recommend not judging a man by the equipment he was summoned with.” She stated in a very clipped tone. Even the others were scared of her as she spoke, to do any more judgment based on that would get them killed by her… and not in the swift and painless way.

“Clear…” The particular nun gasped while holding her neck, the glare was strong enough to make her stop breathing. It was almost as if she was choking her with that aura of hers. The cold aura vanished from the room, letting all of them breathe easy.

“Wait if the shield hero is your master… is he the one who helped in Lute Village’s church?” The nun from that village said, remembering the young man that helped out, and the shield that she happened to take a glance at. Senka nods, confirming the statement.

“And the one who helped clear out the mine. He hasn’t even left the vicinity of Lute Village and Castle Town.” Senka responded, looking at the surprise at the people around her.

“But wasn’t he causing trouble at Centra Village?” One of the nuns asked.

“Isn’t Centra like a week away from here?” Another of the more well-traveled nuns said in surprise if he was grinding here, then how would he be in Centra of all places? The nuns started to talk about all the supposed acts that the hero had done… yet none added up. Senka was actually surprised by just how conflicting the statements were, it would seem that religious indoctrination took away higher brain functions.

“He was here the entire time. Just correcting some merchants who were giving a bad deal,” Senka said after everything quieted down a little. She let them talk to each other to break faith in the church’s distaste for the shield. She talked with them a bit more, before getting some sand from the dragon hourglass. She left them to their thoughts.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Castle Town: Erhard’s Smithy_ **

**_5/31/0000: 1200_ **

  
  


“...I look like an idiot.” Naofumi deadpanned while looking at himself, though not through a mirror. The extra light metal made it even more durable if they hadn’t added it. The green cloak was reinforced as well, but with leather and fur.

“You look cool.” Naofumi just looked at Melina who was trying to hold in her laughter. The shaking of Senka’s shoulders was also telling him something. It seemed that Raphitalia was the only one here that thought it looked cool.

“You look like a real barbarian kid.” The smith also was laughing… Naofumi could tell.

“I am supposed to be a hero…” Naofumi stated, but now that he thought about it, heroes usually wore strange stuff.

“You look great.” Raphitalia stated quickly. Despite her laughing, Senka agreed with that statement.

“Well you made it for me… it is a waste not to use it.” Naofumi just decided to roll with it. Getting some accessories or other materials might be able to make it into a more fitting piece of armor.

The conversation was interrupted by a neigh of a horse, causing them to look at the main street from their own back street. A line of soldiers and horses were moving down it with all the regular citizens standing to the sides as to not block their path.

“They are one edge.” Raphitalia’s observational ability grew leaps and bound since she was bought by him, though it was more used to read the body language of enemies than supposed allies.

“It is almost the Wave… I wish I knew when or where exactly it would happen.” Naofumi stated while also watching the soldiers move. It was most likely a patrol to have a majority of people feel safer.

“Did you not know? At the church in the middle of town is where the Dragon Hourglass is located. When the final grain of sand falls the wave will start.” The smith stated, though to Naofumi it was slightly strange as to why the church of all places had the majority decision that could affect everyone due to its features.

“Here, put this into your shield,” Senka stated while giving the bag of sand that she received from the church into his hands. Naofumi opened it to see the fine sand. Trusting Senka, he poured the continents of the bag into the shield, unlocking the  **Dragon Hourglass Sand Shield** with the mastery skill of  **Portal Shield** but he was too low level to equip it right now, much like the rest of the Blessings series.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___   
  


**_Castle Town: Church Of The Three Heroes_ **

**_5/31/0000: 1230_ **

“So this is the place,” Naofumi observed the halls that they were being led through. The entire party striding a step behind him as he follows the nun from the church.

“This way.” The nun stopped beside the doorway into the chamber that housed the gigantic hourglass that spelled out the next large danger. Senka nodded at the church member, receiving confirmation of them being in the same faction.

“!” Naofumi made a sound as he looked up the hourglass. Far bigger than him, it was almost as big as a small church organ in size. It is highly intricate in nature and was an extremely beautiful sight to see.

“A count down?” Naofumi’s Shield shot a beam of green light into the hourglass, synchronizing it. Immediately, a timer showed itself in his vision, slowly counting down the time till the next wave.

“Is that Naofumi I see?” A familiar voice speaks out to him, causing Naofumi to turn to face the most loyal of heroes. Motoyasu stands there in some high-quality equipment. He quickly notices Myne within the other hero’s party, causing a rush of rage to show itself from the thorn in his heart. She was also wearing the armor that he refused to buy her… it was probably her last purchase with the smith.

“Yo, Motoyasu.” Naofumi greeted with a flat tone, trying to keep the resurfaced anger down. Cooling it down with logic, yet not snuffing it out. It was as if he was forging it into something like the heat from it tried to burn hotter. He got the vague image of a shield and a dragon…

“Naofumi-Sama, who are they?” Raphitalia was the one to ask that question, breaking the anger for a few moments to clear his head. Not allowing himself to explode in anger at the other hero who did not deserve it… yet.

“That would be the spear hero and his party… by the way Motoyasu. Did you know that if you do a special pact with a person, it shares exp?” Naofumi asked, already getting the feeling that Myne had cowed the other three girls. None but Myne looked ready to fight.

“What?” Naofumi heard another familiar voice ring out, causing the shielder to note that the Archer of the 4 had now arrived alongside the swordsman. Itsuki’s party only had one other person. The young woman with blond hair that was given to them by the King.

Ren’s party was practically the same as when he had left, albeit more well equipped than before. Though Naofumi didn’t really have all that good of a connection with the swordsman.

“Party members can share exp?” It would seem that only Ren knew about the exp share among companions. Though Naofumi could tell that Itsuki was far more powerful than the other two heroes from a glance. Despite only having two members, they both were incredibly well equipped.

“Yeah, they had to be stated as companions during a pact creation.” Naofumi had already written it down for Itsuki in case she didn’t know. Naofumi made a small motion for Itsuki that they needed to talk about their exploits later. They talked a bit more about their experience… giving the impression that the Sword and the Spear users still thought it was a game. He could tell Itsuki went through a tragedy recently to come to a complete realization that it was not a game… those eyes were something Naofumi knew quite well now.

“May I know your name, madame?” Motoyasu went into a total lady killer mode. Naofumi almost laughed as he held Raphitalia’s hand. Then he heard the satisfying slap to the face. It would seem that Athena and Melina taught her well.

“Please do not touch me or my party members, Sir Spear Hero…” Senka was the one that spoke, using a polite tone as they slowly walked to Naofumi’s slide. Raphitalia was still annoyed at the womanizer, she could tell that he was basically a menace to women… especially from the knowledge gained around the inn.

“What…” Motoyasu and his party just looked stunned at the sudden discouragement. Itsuki also looked a bit satisfied with the situation. She is still a girl despite not acting like one most of the time.

Word Count: ~2900

Date Completed: 12/20/2020

Note: Hope you all enjoyed.

  
  



	13. Help Between Heroes

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 13**

**_Aegis Inn: Private Dining Room_ **

**_5/31/0000: 1800_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“So this is the only adventurer that you could trust?” Naofumi asked while eating from his plate his party and the other pair are sitting inside the private room that was given to them

“Yep, I kept in mind that advice you gave me and kicked those two when all they could do was just praise me. She at least pointed out some logical issues I had.” The adventurer just looked confused at the conversation between the heroes. She was not grasping what was being said between them.

“If you trust her then, It is not like we have much time to be picky now that the next wave is coming,” Naofumi said with a sigh, Raphiatlia just patted his shoulder when he said that.

“So, who are your new companions?” Itsuki asked while looking intently at the two.

“Raphiatlia, I am Naofumi-Sama’s sword.”

“Senka, Milord’s scout.”

“So, how did you get into his party?” Itsuki asked with a curious tone. Naofumi already knew that if he went about this the wrong way, it could cause an irreparable hole in their relationship.

“As you probably know… I was unable to get party members the usual route. Especially after the rape accusation cementing that I am the demon of the state religion. So I had to go through a darker path.” Itsuki looked surprised at the revelation that the nation’s religion hated him, discriminating against him when he did no wrong.

“So I ended up getting slaves.” Even Nowfumi himself felt a bit saddened by the fact he had to resort to it, even if he is probably the best person to do so. Itsuki’s mind went blank at the admission from the young man infront of her. The word kept running through her head.

“Milord is probably the safest person to be around and to be a slave to.” Senka was quick to snap her out of the downward spiral of sudden anger and accusations that would happen with the hero. Raphitalia just nodded in agreement.

“We were both sick, and Senka was at death’s door if she hadn’t gotten any food,” Raphitalia added as well, both of them were in horrible condition. Even if the slaver were to try and help them… if they didn’t sell then they would have just been left there to die, or even been used as food for monsters in order to recoup losses.

“I see…” Itsuki just sat there in thought.

“Do not blame him for getting slaves, instead, blame the ones who forced them into slavery.” Despite being one of the physically youngest beings here, Melina spoke with wisdom from many life experiences. Itsuki just looked at the woman in front of her.

“Alright, that is enough of that… May I know your name?” Naofumi pushed the conversation in another direction with him needing to find out the name of their ally.

“Alina Silvist.” Was her response, Naofumi could tell she was weirded out by the conversation with him, it was as if he was not like the person that was etched deep into her mind from another source.

“A good name, You probably know my title, but allow me to introduce myself. I am Naofumi Iwatani, The Current Shield Hero.” Naofumi could feel the title gaining strengthened convictions behind it as if every action he had done was cementing the identity in his own mind.

“First off, I would like to thank you for actively helping Itsuki.” Naofumi already had Itsuki as a precious person to him, despite not interacting as much as he would like. She looked confused at his gratitude.

“Does she know that information?” Naofumi asked Itsuki, snapping her from the thoughts of destroying slave rings. It took her a few seconds before she realized what he was asking about.

“She is the only person besides you who knows.” She states with an embarrassed smile, it was surprising that she could hide her gender so well. Though stating that she wanted to wash alone was something a bit strange on the road.

“Thanks for at least being her girl friend,” Naofumi stated with a tired smile. Itsuki looked surprised at his miswording of the situation, with a hint of an embarrassment of course.

“Don’t word it like that!” Itsuki almost yelled out with Alina also blushing at the insinuation. It took Naofumi to realize the wording issue that he created. Taking the thoughts about him knowing that Itsuki is a girl.

“Sorry… bout that.” Naofumi just rubbed the back of his head as all the other girls masked their amusement. Though the hardest to see it in would be Senka of course.

“But anyway, let’s get to planning for the wave tomorrow. We are going to be suddenly teleported wherever it is.” Naofumi got serious after all the small talk was done. The others immediately followed suit.

“Itsuki, by all the evidence that I have had, it will spawn in an area close to a town or village. I know you will immediately fight the wave boss.” Naofumi looked directly at Itsuki, she is still young and would not think of everything that might happen.

“Despite everything, I will be helping the town first and foremost,” Naofumi stated with a piercing gaze. He knew that she would forget the village. With the other two thinking it is a game, they would not be lending any help to the village at all.

“So should we-” Itsuki was about to ask something before Naofumi interrupted.

“No, you pay attention to the entire battlefield, you are to provide support after all. Alina, what do you proficient in?” Naofumi was sitting with a hand to his chin, despite the two most experienced on the battlefield not being him, he was still the one giving tactical decisions.

“I use the bow and spear.” She replies to the sudden question from the other hero.

“Okay… How about this. You stay on the lookout for closer enemies and coordinate with Itsuki on stronger ones that would harm someone. But your main focus is on keeping enemies off of Itsuki, you don’t have an infinite supply of arrows correct?” She nods, confirming the information.

“Use arrows sparingly as Itsuki has an infinite amount, use your spear a majority of the time.” Naofumi finished his statement.

“Currently, my team is a bit too weak for the wave, you probably are of a higher level than all of us. So we will be working on protecting the town. Itsuki, finish as fast as possible and save enough portions of materials to unlock more equipment for both of us.”

“Unlock equipment?” Itsuki asked the young man.

“Well, saving a portion will allow us to unlock Shields for me and Bows for you. All my shields were unlocked via that method.” Itsuki looked stumped before bringing out the paper of his UI that he gave her weeks ago.

“Is that how you unlocked your shields? I just picked mine up from the shop with the weapon copy system…” Naofumi looked over in surprise, he had never known about that particular ability on his own and got the feeling that the Shield didn’t know itself.

“Wait, you just picked up your first bows from the weapon’s shop?” Naofumi asked for clarification, he was trying to look through the help menu.

“Yep, it really helped out. Though their rarity was low, it was good enough to start with in order to get monster materials to level up more.” Naofumi motioned for her to stop, closing his eyes and thinking about the matter thoroughly.

“I never really tried to touch another’s shield and I get the feeling that it wouldn’t have worked for me as I was not actively thinking of doing so…” Naofumi spoke aloud his thoughts.

“When you first picked a bow up, did it just automatically unlock a bow? Or did you have to actively think about copying it?” Naofumi asked as he reopened his eyes.

“I was actively thinking of copying it like in Dimension Wave…” Naofumi felt that the statement was true enough to Itsuki’s mind. He thought a few more moments before talking again.

“I would have never thought about copying a shield… and we don’t have a way to test that right now… Did the other two copy weapons as well?” Naofumi asked, to which he got a nod for an answer. Naofumi thought for a second… are the legendary weapons actively deriving strengthening techniques from the user?

“About weapon rarity… What is the highest rarity Bow you have?” Naofumi was already thinking about his own shields… none of them had rarities. But from his experience in gacha games, at least the more balanced ones, rarities allowed the character or equipment to be stronger than the rest at a cost.

“Rare.” Itsuki quickly said while switching bows, through the motes of light, a strange bow appeared. It was some sort of recurve bow with metal limbs and a string that glinted in the light of the room but in a darker tinge.

“My own shields do not have rarities listed, but I want to test something after we have talked about how to strengthen ourselves. Is there anything else that you do to make yourself stronger?” Naofumi put the thought aside for a moment and asked about what he really wanted to know.

“The only real thing that I can say is  **Job Levels** .” Naofumi just lifted a brow and leaned forward a bit, motioning for his former roommate to speak extensively about it.

“After absorbing monster parts, I get Job EXP to invest in an individual stat of mine.” Naofumi felt a bit surprised at that and immediately thought of several things to ask. But one was needed in this discussion about tactics, he needed to know what Itsuki was capable of.

“What have you been investing in with your Job Levels?” Naofumi asked.

“I have been working on Accuracy and Damage,” Itsuki said while pondering on her own about methods to strengthen herself.

“Alright then, That is all I will ask right now. Can I have a minute to try and experiment?” Naofumi asked the whole room this time, receiving consenting nods despite the confusion that they had.

Naofumi closed his eyes to the world… not even paying attention to the status magic he was under. He thought about Itsuki’s words and started accepting them into himself. Tricking himself into believing that the shield had the same ability from the start.

“It’s here.” When he opened his eyes, he immediately noticed a bar, one reminiscent of Itsuki’s stats screen. He did not see anything about the rarity stat that Itsuki was talking about… almost as he was missing something from the equation. Probably something another hero would fill into the puzzle.

“Want to hear my experiment?” Naofumi asked them with a happy smile, it would be extremely helpful for him now. Itsuki nodded.

“I was trying to imagine that your strengthening method was there in the shield but just hidden. It probably was in fact. But I did not hear hide or tale of it no matter where I looked. But now I have the Job Level bar you had in your UI.”

“If the others have different straightening methods… well we could get stronger faster.” Naofumi smiled gently at the young woman, it was an extreme help from her.

“You know about the Mastery bonus and the Signature Skills of our different equips?” Naofumi decided to not withhold his own information.

“I know about the Mastery Bonus… but what about the Signature skills?” Itsuki asked while leaning in herself in order to listen to his own explanation. It would seem that it was his own unique thing due to absorbing monster materials to unlock shields.

“Skills only available with a specific weapon equipped.  **Shield Of Blessings I** .” Naofumi swiftly changed his shield into the white and cold one.

“This is a shield that I got from absorbing Low-Grade Holy Water. It has  **Light Healing Magic Affinity Up** as its mastery skill. Its Signature is  **Holy Water Creation I** .” For someone who had bows and only really relied on the equipment’s rarity, it was surprising that lower rarity bows had effects like that. Naofumi demonstrated it by holding a cup of water, it glowed brightly for a second.

“Here.” Naofumi gave the glass of water over, having Itsuki examine it. She quickly noted that It is Low-Grade Holy Water. She quickly put it into her bow. Naofumi could tell that she is reading the description of the new bow that she received, how she never thought of it was a bit surprising to Naofumi.

“Now imagine it if you would,” Naofumi stated while guiding her through the process. He noted that the others were completely silent, more than a little confused at what they were talking about… making Naofumi think about what the previous heroes had done to strengthen their own weapons.

Itsuki grabbed her own cup of water and converted it into holy water. She passed it to him in order to verify before Naofumi thought for a moment, he had two members of his party that knew how Holy water was made. Or one he knew and the other he suspected.

“Here, can you confirm?” Naofumi also brought out another cup of water and converted it himself, passing them to Senka and Melina. Despite Melina being a mage, she had more than enough knowledge about Holy water from her companion priests.

“It is holy water.” Senka stated while testing it using her own method. Melina took a few more seconds observing it before saying anything.

“It is not the holy water that I am used to.” Melina reported while placing both of the cups down onto the table.

“Senka, do you know how holy water is made in the church?” He asked while looking directly at her, he already knew that Melina would not know how the church made the holy water of her world.

“Several days of prayer in order to get low-grade holy water. Though they could do it with any amount of water that can be contained in a holy vessel.” Naofumi thought for a moment, a holy vessel could be the size of several large stock pots used in commercial kitchens.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

“It is almost time.” Naofumi looked at his timer as it slowly dropped in numbers, almost reaching zero in the next few moments. They had already prepared everything for the fight, at least all they could. A flash of light obscured everyone’s vision as the wave began.

**_Forest_ **

**_6/1/0000: 1500_ **

“Check to see if there are any villages in the vicinity.” Naofumi said quickly as the blinding light died down. But something brought itself to his attention, something from his pockets.

“Connection to the Multiverse confirmed. The user is located away from home dimension designation, recording current coordinates. Sending a call to the administrator of the User’s home dimension.” A female voice spoke out from his pocket, one he hadn’t heard of besides the starting days of having it.

Word Count: ~2500 Words

Date Completed: 12/21/2020

Note: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter… I have no idea if I can keep with the single-day updates. (Especially when I have to do scholarship work in order to afford college.) But I will try and get to it in my free time.

Review Cove:

FFN:

Arraia: Magnificent

Excellent work

will naofumi get another shade?

naofumi will create a dragon or something close?

Reply: Why thank you. As for shade, I think you mean shadow, not in Naofumi’s party, though Melty’s shadow will have quite the interactions with Naofumi’s shadow. As for pets… it’s up in the air really. I don’t know myself right now.

(On chapter 4)

Re Lovely Lover: The tigress isnt there. Wow. I really thought she would be.

Reply: You are talking about Atla right? It wouldn’t make sense for her to be in Melomarc at the moment.

AO3

Robbie2413: Thus we continue along following the canon of the shield hero. Question on a scale of 1 to 10 how much do you think you will derail the storyline of season 1 of Rising of The Shield Hero (ROTSH)? I know you have already derailed the trial.

Reply: Well it will be a derail of 2-5 by the end of season 1. Mainly because a majority of it happened outside of Naofumi’s control. The church fight will still happen due to the church actively hating him… just weaker due to (Spoiler) Senka creating another faction within the church who has actual common sense. So large events will still happen… just the details are different.

Karoma: Pfft shot down good job Senka

Why does Spear jerk still keep her around even he isn’t that dense he respects loyalty even if he’s a bit dull

I wonder are all of the other party members in this? Wouldn’t they know about sharing exp? Is there a bigger plot than just our green boi or am I just reading into things?

Reply: I like writing Senka, kuuderes are quite inline with my own day to day deposition.

As for Malty being in Motoyasu’s party? Well he was the only hero that the King could reasonably convince to allow her into. He is much less trusting of her when compared to his party members… who Naofumi will have to speak with later on.

As for exp sharing I was going to put:

The other heroes’ party members all but face palmed at their forgetfulness. The heroes were so confident that they thought they already knew but did not use that ability.

But didn’t due to not fitting in well. It is still canon however.


	14. To Save A Town

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 14**

**_Forest_ **

**_6/1/0000: 1500_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“This process will take several minutes, please wait.” The female voice finished the statement as Noafumi fished the phone out of his pocket. Quickly bypassing the screensaver of the paladin’s neo artwork, he reaches the regular operation. Quickly switching to contacts, there was a number slowly counting down by Des’s contact info.

“Naofumi-Sama, Lute Village is over there.” Senka immediately reported after a few moments of looking, the other heroes had already left the general starting area. Naofumi quickly put the phone back into an easy to access pocket, whatever it was doing, he would know when the timer finished.

“A flare, they must be signaling they are being attacked.” Raphtalia noticing the sudden burning of a flare, quickly said. They were all looking to him for orders.

“To Lute Village to evacuate them.” Naofumi quickly stated before running over. They all nodded before running after him.

**_Forest_ **

**_6/1/0000: 1520_ **

“Raphtalia, Senka, evacuate the villagers now. Take them to the Mine. Melina, you are with me, I will be baiting the wave monster, you are to thin them out as much as possible.” Naofumi immediately noticed several burning buildings, though most of the village is still intact despite the arrival of monsters.

“Right!” Raphtalia and Senka immediately left the two in order to do their job. Naofumi pounded on his shield in order to get some of the more aerial enemies after him, the loud sound was able to dissuade them from attacking nearby villagers.

“Ge out of here, it ain’t safe,” Naofumi said to the animals in the stables, several lizards, and from what he thought were Chocobos. He quickly opened the pens with a sift and careful hand before running through the back end and into the village proper.

“ **Shield Of Blessings I** , Everyone, run to the mines, you will be safer there than here,” Naofumi stated while drawing aggro from the monsters that he noticed were zombies. Quickly changing the shield to his best one in defense against undead, he started changing a canteen of water into Holy Water.

“Melina,  **Chaser Evolution: Light** Naofumi ordered as Melina slashed some monsters that got too close to a pair of villagers. She nodded while using the skill, originally her chasers were a bunch of different elements, but from the next batch, a set of big light element chasers appeared.

“The Shield Hero is saving us!.” The villagers shouted, putting together the connection of him being the one to clear to mine and the newly summoned person infront of them.

“I said run, get out of here and get to safer ground!” Naofumi shouted while running, opening his canteen of recently converted holy water. He quickly splashed it onto an undead, practically burning it from the divinity dwelling within.

“ **Air Strike Shield** ” Naofumi quickly used the named skill in order to protect a man from getting attacked by a zombie. Running past in order to draw it into the crowd behind him.

“ **Shield Prison** ” Naofumi quickly used the other ability, stopping a gang of bees from harming a woman and her child. Clanging the metal of his left bracer and the holy shield brought their attention onto him. Melina quickly rushed past them, making sure to get as many chasers as possible.

“Melina, fall back for a second,” Naofumi ordered while targeting one of the burning buildings, she nodded and let off his side, making sure that none of them went after him. He quickly went under a burning pillar, having some bees follow him.

“ **Launch Chaser** ” Melina quickly used her skill in order to launch her older chasers into monsters that were targeting villagers, exploding on contact and harming several monsters at once.

“After me you monsters!” Naofumi yelled out while jumping over the burning pillar, causing the parade of monsters to come after him once more, but this time, he had a burning torch in his hand. He spotted the watchtower…knowing the bell up there would attract more monsters away from the more dense parts of the village, he quickly ran for it.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Mines_ **

“Is everyone evacuated?” Rapihtalia asked Senka when she saw the scout treating some injuries that the villagers sustained, becoming a medic for the group.

“The able-bodied men ran back, they seem to be going to help Milord,” Senka reported to her co-slave, finishing off the bottle of burn solution, one that lasted quite a bit actually.

“Are we good to return?” Raphtalia asked while watching the surroundings, though it was a bit redundant with Senka already doing so easily. It did help calm the elderly and children though.

“I will stay here and protect them, you go over and assist Milord.” Senka quickly threw a stick covered with holy water into a zombie that wanderer its way up here. Her movement surprised the villagers.

“Right! I leave it to you Senka!” Raphtalia quickly ran to the village. Senka just saluted and went back to helping the injured, though most of them were fine thanks to the quick timing of the Hero and her medical skill efficiency. Couldn’t be an assassin without knowing poisons, and poisons were one step away from being medicine after all.

**_Lute Village_ **

“ **Air Strike Shield** ” Naofumi once again used the skill, but this time to use it as a double jump to get over a zombie and onto the ladder of the watchtower. Melina being more athletic just ran up the supporting pillars.

“Start shooting chasers after they gather quite a bit, the AoE is needed,” Naofumi advised Melina who nodded in confirmation that she got it. Naofumi quickly started ringing the bell, attracting many zombies to its base, though less than it would have due to the party’s efforts.

“Contact Des is calling.” The female voice chimes in after the last of the bell’s ringing have finished. Naofumi quickly took the phone out of his pocket, seeing that it was indeed Des calling he answered.

“This is Iwatani Naofumi, how may I help you?” Naofumi said while Melina was shooting chasers to thin them out a bit more. He is trying to be as nonplussed as possible.

“I leave you alone for one minute and you go to another dimension… in a whole nother multiverse even? What am I going to do with you.” A young man’s voice comes over the line, extremely exasperated at Naofumi’s new location.

“Well sorry that I got summoned to be a Hero… and one that is hated by the nation but still, a hero.” Naofumi still somehow found humor in the situation.

“Wait summoned to be a hero?” Des asked in a surprised voice.

“Yep, and fighting other-dimensional zombies to boot, this tear in the universe keeps summoning them,” Naofumi stated while looking at the sky, the shades of purple that spelled calamity.

“Well shit, I knew that you were likely to be summoned but you do not sound like you are in a good situation. Do you need back up?” Naofumi felt surprised at the conversation with Des, it was surprisingly quick that he accepted Naofumi’s word.

“Yeah, that would be nice, the zombies are breaking down the tower I am in, despite Melina’s best efforts,” Naofumi stated, surprised at his own nonchalant attitude by fighting beside his own creation.

“Right, I’ll see if I can get Yukari and Okina to send me over, the boundary between the two shouldn’t be too powerful.” Naofumi heard names that he was familiar with, despite never meeting with the supposed Gap Witch or Back Door Goddess… it would seem that the titles are more literal than he thought.

“Anyway, I already sent you a bunch of data, just as much as your phone has been sending me. Next time one of these “waves” opens up, you should be able to contact me quicker… or anyone besides our guild sans your brother.” Naofumi was about to say something but the call disconnected.

“We got some back up from my end coming soon… but the knights should come in first,” Naofumi stated while pouring oil onto the zombies below and the tower itself. He could already feel the structural integrity of the tower slowly collapsing.

“I have enough chasers to do a  **Quasar Explosion** ,” Melina reports while looking at her chasers, whittled down quite a bit when compared to before.

“We need to go now.  **Rope Shield** .” Naofumi knew that he didn’t need to say the shield’s name aloud, but it did help him imagine the shield he would be using more strongly. He used the torch to light the oil before snuffing it out, offering his back to carry her.

“ **Air Strike Shield** ” Using the skill as a platform once more, he used the extra distance to latch on with  **Rope** and swing to safety. Though he knew that Melna was having fun swinging around. Naofumi noted in his mind that when they take a vacation, he would try doing this in a pool or lake.

He looked back to see the tower falling down, crushing about a quarter of the horde they attracted. Naofumi shook his head when she was preparing for  **Quasar Explosion** motioning for her to wait a bit to observe the situation. The skill did have a long cooldown after all and he did not know if more showed up due to the loud crash.

“Sir Hero!” Naofumi recognized the man as one of the first he saved from the village. He was quite surprised at the man coming back.

“What are you doing?!?” Naofumi yelled while making sure that Melina was okay, they were in quite a bit of rubble.

“We all changed our minds when we saw how courageously you were fighting. This village is our home. We can’t just run away and abandon it. We will fight with you.” The man explained while Naofumi observed the situation around him, able-bodied adults with various farming implements were fighting the monsters.

“Alright, help evacuate the rest of the people… but be careful and be ready to find shelter. My companion with the spear will be using some powerful attacks to help thin the enemies.” Naofumi said while standing up from the rubble now that Melina was off his back. She nods while observing the situation.

**“Roar”** Naofumi immediately noticed the hulking figure of a giant zombie arriving behind the bandanaed man. He quickly pushed him away while slanting his shield at an angle, hoping to redirect the blow instead of absorbing it.

“Die monster!” One of the villagers tried to stab it with his pitchfork, forcing Naofumi to redirect another blow when the monster turned its attention to the man who attacked it.

“Get to shelter, you guys aren’t equipped to handle this!” Naofumi spoke while stopping on the ax the monster had, embedding it more into the ground, despite being smart enough to wield it, it was dumb enough not to let go and attack Naofumi with his hands.

“But”

“Go now, think of your family. And I get the feeling that the knights will use some sort of high damage magic to get the job done, don’t get caught in the crossfire.” Naofumi yelled for the others to get out before his feelings could be proven.

“Naofumi-Sama!” The signature voice of his slave was all he needed to know. Melina was currently dealing with another of the zombies while Naofumi dealt with the other.

“Heh, you are easier than a Tau to fight,” Melina states while slashing the monster, finishing it off as she seared the neck of the zombie.

“Raphtalia.” That was all Naofumi needed to say before the monster that he was holding off fell to pieces with a swift array of slashes from his swordswoman. 

“Good work.” Naofumi gave the well-deserved praise, it looks like his training did her well. Naw, if only he could find a way to have her learn Sword Master skills…

“Amazing…” They all had surprised faces as they watched her sheth the sword, sure, she was quite powerful when getting them out of the village. But to be this strong is extremely surprising.

“Please get to shelter and notify our last party member. We have this handled” Raphtalia stated after turning to the group of villagers.

“Right.” The villagers quickly left the village to the hero’s party. Thanks were not stated, they would just hope they were safe.

“ **Tsk** . The numbers aren’t going down, what are the other three doing…?” Itsuki was getting the feeling that the other heroes were having trouble. The wave depended on them to finish the boss monster. Suddenly, flares of fire created a cage around the village.

“Both of you, to me.  **Light Metal Shield** .” Naofumi immediately got a bad feeling from the attack that would soon be upon them. He quickly puts the two under his cloak before blocking a ball of fire that attacked him.

“Ha ha ha, We burned them all to death at once.” Naofumi felt the thorn in his heart pulse as he felt righteous anger brew within it. Several soldiers slowly walk through the burning village, set even more ablaze due to the army’s actions.

“The Shield Hero…? You are quite tough.” It seems that they scouted him out and knew he was in the village when they attacked, forcing the anger inside of him to burn hotter.

“Tsk, they didn’t care that we are here…” Naofumi spoke under his breath, angering his two companions that he sheltered. Raphtalia rushed out when Naofumi shifted his position slightly, attacking the head knight. Melina rushed out behind her, a frosted anger in her eyes despite the smile on her face.

“Did you do this knowing that Naofumi-sama was here?” Raphtalia was in a total rage, her snarl warping her features as she pressed onto the head knight’s bodyguard.

“Depending on your answer… I guess we will have you court-martialed and dishonorably discharged.” Melina spoke from behind them, her spear settled over her shoulder. She knew organized military terms far better than Raphtalia and was able to articulate a statement far more dishonorable than dying in battle.

“Draw your swords.” The second in charge spoke while looking at the situation.

“I would recommend you not point them at us and instead of the monsters still around us… otherwise, you will be caught for treason during a disaster and executed by the queen.” Senka said while walking in from the other edge of town, playing with her knives in a threatening manner. She knew far more about laws than anyone else in the group.

“A knight that refuses to protect the innocent is no knight,” Raphtalia stated while moving back, with all the statements the other soldiers hesitated in their actions. The party returns to Naofumi’s side.

“What took you so long Senka?” Naofumi asked while they readied for a fight. But it wasn't for the knights, no, it was for the monsters behind the lackluster figures that called themselves royal knights.

“Honestly, for peacekeepers, you are horrible at it.” A young man’s voice filled the space as footsteps on the cobbles clacked even above the crackling of the fire. Naofumi’s backup had arrived.

Word Count: ~2600 Words

Date Completed: 12/22/2020

Note: Who might this Des be... Hope you all enjoyed it. Well, on another note, Operation Siren on Azur Lane has caught me.

Comment Cove: 

FFN: 

Arraia: Perfect

Unique shield?

Response: Why thank you… as for Shields, new shields will be made.

Dcraus: so when will the the others female characters from dungeon fighters online make appearance in rising of the shield hero world. I looking forward to see Female Slayer and Female Knight has part of Naofumi harem

Response: Light Bringer will be here soon… in a strange way of course.

AO3:

Robbie2413: You misspelled Raphtalia's name as "Raphiatlia", and "Raphitalia". Please fix that in this chapter.

Whew, you have updated 2 chapters so fast I didn't have time to give feedback. Anyways the last chapters were good and so was this one despite the spelling errors noted above.^^

So derailment went up hehehe. Naofumi has Itsuki's method way earlier like 1st wave instead of post-pope battle. That end bit though what does it mean by "one he hadn’t heard of besides the starting days of having it"? What is "it" in this context? You have me so intrigued.

Response: Well that was my mistake… and I am annoyed with myself for that. I am glad you enjoyed it.

As for it, that would be the phone.


	15. Relief Efforts

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 15**

**_Lute Village_ **

**_6/1/0000: 1700_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“Honestly, I was thinking that I would only have to fight zombies… that is why I brought only Reimu.” Everyone besides Naofumi was confused as the person spoke. The language was completely different from what they knew, though Naofumi’s party could get a rather basic grasp of the language he is speaking.

“How is it going Naofumi?” Naofumi looked over at the young woman who looked 16, her black hair and inside a strange shrine maiden’s attire. A gohei in hand she looked over at the young man. She had a distinctly uninterested expression on her face.

“Hi Reimu, I have been saving the world like usual,” Naofumi said with a nonchalant expression, everyone could actively understand what he said.

“Yeah, Desmond decided to quickly take me over here, I just got dragged over… thankfully it is not another incident that I have to deal with,” Reimu states while glancing behind the knights, showing a slightly disgusted expression from the rotting corpses that were animate.

“Honestly, when I said I was getting Naofumi, Reimu was one of the first to get involved.” The other person that came from Naofumi’s home dimension stated. Chuckling as Reimu decided to hit him with her gohei, an embarrassed expression on her face. His jacket glowing in the darkening surroundings, making an ominous blue surround him.

“By the way, can you have your companions speak some words? Eve, needs to figure out what language they are using.” Des said with a grin, tapping the glasses on his head. Naofumi nodded.

“Who are they Naofumi-sama?” Raphitila asked with a clueless expression, just when the tension became high, these two appeared.

“My old friends, Desmond Howard and Reimu Hakurei.” Naofumi said, Desmond gave a thumbs up, showing a thumbs up at getting the translator up to speed.

“Sorry about that, I get the feeling Naofumi introduced my name. But let me introduce myself. I am Desmond Howard, a simple shop owner.” Desmond bowed to them with a grin, miming a tip of a tophat. His glowing gloves giving off a futuristic impression.

“Shrine Maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu Hakurei,” Reimu’s expression returned to one of indifference. But the hand going into her sleeves to grab something betrayed her alertness. Everyone went through various greetings as the head knight just grew angrier.

“Who are you!” The knight shouted.

“Well, we are Naofumi’s temporary back up for your wave problem,” Desmond responded with a sarcastic grin.

“And besides, you have to pay more attention to your surroundings, otherwise you might just get an honorable death.” Desmond gestured behind them, right at the things that Reimu was looking at. The knight looked back behind their squad to see a wall of zombies and bees standing behind them, waiting patiently for the number to be done.

“You know, they are very patient zombies,” Desmond remarked with a smirk as the horror settled onto the knight’s face. The largest zombie in the front decided to swing his ax at the knight.

“Honestly, waiting for your death? Raphitalia!” Naofumi spoke while blocking the attack, his new defense doing quite well in the matter. Raphitalia jumped onto the giant and ran across the arm, slashing it all the while.

“Now then, get into formation,” Naofumi said while Melina and Senka dispatched some more zombies. Desmond looked a bit surprised at Melina’s appearance.

“Is that…?” Desmond asked while placing a hand to a small box clipped to his jacket. It said “Transport” before a gun appeared in his hand.

“That is Melina,” Naofumi said while blocking another attack, the knights all looked to their leaders… looking for their next commands.

“Get going, we need to head for the three heroes.” The head knight said with several under his command coming with him. His second in command gritted his teeth while thinking.

“Get into phalanx formation, support the Shield Hero.” The second in command yelled out, a majority of the knights nodded with relieved expressions as they got ready to fight.

“Charge!” He said while leading them into battle alongside the Hero’s party. Swiftly cutting into the zombie’s mass. Naofumi immediately noticed the help and nodded. He got the feeling that the battle would end soon so he nodded to Melina and pointed to a large mass of zombies. She nodded in confirmation.

“ **Quasar Explosion** ” She shouted out while transforming into her Teana form. Her spear held in her hands as a chaser formed using her own power. Quickly motioning it forward, the ball of energy flew into the center f the crowd and detonated. The group was reduced to mince.

“Whew, that was exhausting.” She said while transforming back into her regular form. She then immediately stabbed and killed a zombie that was trying to sneak up on her.

“They should be finishing up soon,” Senka stated while quickly dispatching another couple of bees that were about to split the knight’s formation. Naofumi noted his new levels, with how high they are now, it is possible to equip  **Shield Of Blessings II** .

“Right then, it should be cleared out enough to not worry too much,” Desmond stated while walking to a resting Naofumi. Tapping the clipped device, a pair of duffle bags fall into his hands. He swiftly hands them to Naofumi.

“Well besides the phones and a tablet in one of the duffles, the other is filled with basic camping supplies,” Desmond stated before Naofumi could even ask, it was as if he was in a rush while doing so.

“Why so quickly?” Naofumi asked with surprise, Desmond would usually like to drag things out if he was able to.

“Same reason why we couldn’t contact you. The world’s multiversal barrier is too strong unless you are right under a wave. I have this time in my vision that I do not want to know what happens when it zeros out.” Reimu nodded in agreement, her instincts telling her not to spend much time here.

“So we can only get contact during a wave?” Naofumi asked.

“Only one or two people from our world are allowed, it is actively enforced by this world for some reason. So yeah, call for backup whenever possible will ya? On another note, the phones can contact each other when inside the same universal dimension.” Desmond opened his own phone to show off those functions.

“Our time is almost up, what else do I have to say…? Oh yeah, I can’t select Melina whenever I log into your account, all DFO says is that she is away at the moment. Whenever I try Ellen it says she is synchronizing…” Naofumi immediately made the connection to them being away from Arad.

“Right, thank you both for helping out,” Naofumi said with a relieved expression, if he hadn’t gotten any help, it might have turned out worse. Senka was talking to some knights while writing in a notepad.

“Well see ya, stay safe and all,” Desmond said while waving, Reimu walked beside him as a portal opened up in front of them. The eyes inside of it made it disturbing to look at.

“See ya later Naofumi,” Reimu said while also disappearing through the gap.

“Naofumi-sama, the sky!” Raptalia said while pointing at the sky that was a shade of maroon, it quickly changed back into the sky blue that was familiar.

“Alright everyone, this is the last push. We are to be getting the village into a more stable condition.” Naofumi quickly said while scanning the area for any injured. His companions nodded while Senka started to check if there were any monsters still within the village as they started their relief efforts.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Forest Clearing_ **

**_6/1/0000: 1730_ **

“Where is Naofumi?” Motoyasu asked while resting his spear on his shoulder. Myne looked annoyed that she couldn’t even try fawning over him due to that damned Shield Demon.

“Helping the village.” Itsuki looked annoyed despite the need to kill the boss quickly. She would have liked to help the village. She noted the smoke earlier but had to grit her teeth and keep on supporting the other heroes in order to make sure that the other two’s companions were safe.

“The village, didn’t the knights already handle it?” Motoyasu said something that made the archer pair want to facepalm, it goes to show just how much of a game he thought it was.

“He went over there first considering the Knights wouldn’t make it time.” She was starting to get really angry at the spearman, though it was not like Ren who is staying silent was much better.

“Oh, so he got a mission for it…” It took so much control for Ituski not to slam her head into a tree. Naofumi did it of his own volition. It seemed that they never thought of the consequences. Alina also looked frustrated at the lack of concern about other’s livelihood.

“No, he did not, he cared about saving people more than the honor of killing the boss…” Itsuki was just about to give up on reasoning with them, despite this wave being easy, she got the feeling the next one would be far more troublesome, enough to warrant their help in the future.

‘Heroes!” A sudden voice of a knight interrupted the rest of the conversation.

“Kinda late huh,” Itsuki was so close to strangling the spear idiot, did he not realize the nights would be dispatched to the villages first? In fact, the knight should be interacting with relief efforts. Besides, it should be Naofumi coming over and not the knights.

“Now now, don’t say that. His highness has a reward for each of you.” The knight had a fawning grin on his face, it disgusted Itsuki to see it. It was the same face that bullies had infront of her teachers. The other heroes smiled at a job well done.

“You guys go on ahead, I will be going to check on the village,” Itsuki stated while walking past the knight, not even bothering to give the ones who shrugged off their duties even a passing glance.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Lute Village_ **

**_6/1/0000: 1800_ **

“Naofumi, we are here to help,” Itsuki said to the shield hero when she spotted him, he was directing villagers to rubble to see if there were any unlucky enough to be inside of them.

“Thanks, where are the other parties?” Naofumi asked while seeing only the pair of them walking into the square. Itsuki just shrugged, they were too entranced at the thought of rewards.

“It really drives home the point huh…” Itsuki mumbled while looking at the various states of the villagers, able-bodied men hollered out while looking for another that might have survived. Newly created orphans sitting in prayer over some flowers. Women cooking a meal with Naofumi to give everyone a good dinner.

“That it is not a game? Yeah… if only they were here to see this and finally understand.” Naofumi remarked while stirring a pot of stew. Or maybe they wouldn’t come to that conclusion. Nofumi noticed the knights were about to leave, he nodded at the captain who made the quick decision and noted for Senka to write a letter to the queen later.

“Shield Hero-sama!” A group of villages spoke up now that the meal being prepared was reducing down. Naofumi turned to the group, his companions at his sides. Itsuki just watched the entire thing, not even surprised that the villagers did not greet her… she didn’t help them in their time of need.

“Thank you very much.” The chief of the village bowed to him, his body parallel to the ground.

“We couldn’t have made it through without you.” He stood straight once more. Naofumi closed his eyes for a second.

“Thank your lucky stars, not me,” Naofumi said it was all about luck in that regard.

“No, it is your presence that helped us survive.” The one that was knocked out earlier stated with a serious expression.

“We will never forget what you have done for us.” The buff individual that stabbed the large zombie with a pitchfork said. They all bowed their head to him.

“Then use that gratitude to recover.” Naofumi thought to himself why he was doing these things, only coming onto the answer to protect and help others. The people were almost in tears at the remark. They stood straight once more before resuming their relief efforts.

“Tonight they are going to have a banquet as a celebration for defeating the wave,” Itsuki said with a passing remark, quickly going off to help some of the villagers.

“When is the queen going to get rid of this farce…” Naofumi mumbled to himself as Raphitalia stood beside him.

“Naofumi-sama… we did well right?” Raphitalia asked with a quiet voice. Naofumi just patted her head.

“Yes, you protected others from having to go through what you have…” Naofumi said with a warm tone. Raphitalia rushed into his arms and started crying… she is the most innocent of us after all.

“We should get heading back… I have no idea what plot they will have at the feast tonight…” Naofumi remarked. Motioning for Senka to come over to him as he keeps patting Raphitalia’s head.

“Okay, did you write what we need for the queen’s intelligence force?” Naofumi asked her, receiving a nod in return before she hands him the letter. He silently pats her head, receiving a look of surprise that he did not notice while reading the letter.

“Alright then… let’s get going to Castle Town. It looks like they have everything handled here.” Naofumi said while looking at the people eating the meal that he made with the women of the village, despite the grim atmosphere, everyone was smiling and talking to one another.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Castle Town: ????’s Castle_ **

**_6/1/0000: 1900_ **

“A toast to our heroes who did great work in repelling this wave.” The king held out a chalice to the guest below him, his posture straight, he stands atop a platform far from any other guests. There were three thrones situated there. Naofumi almost spoke in anger at the man but held his tongue.

“Our casualties were in the single digits.” The head knight bragged about himself to several noble ladies, though Naofumi could tell they did not care about what he said, looking more exasperated as he spoke his tales. But Naofumi only thought to himself, if he could have arrived earlier… could he have saved those lives?

“Naofumi-sama, are you not socializing?” Raphitalia asked, still inside her regular attire, he needed to get some more outfits than that sooner or later. Though Senka commandeered a dress for herself, a simple black cocktail dress, contrasting with the ball gowns various nobles had. A courteous smile on her face as she conversed with men and women.

“I am fine staying here for a bit… the moon is beautiful tonight…” Naofumi said ironically, not even thinking about what the shield would translate it to with similar context, especially when it is considered something romantic in Japanese.

“Here.” Raphilaia offered out a fork of cake, Naofumi thought nothing of it and ate. He kept looking at the moon pensively, thinking about his actions in this world.

“Naofumi…” Motoyasu’s voice was strangely cold, causing the second oldest hero to look at the oldest of the heroes. A glove was throne onto the ground… something that Naofumi knew from the novels.

“Duel me.” The nobles around them all gasped, Senka was already by his side, glaring at him as her expression returned to its usual blank form. Melina also showed up, her eyes glinting in interest at what would have caused Motoyasu to want to fight, Senka already knew with her sharp hearing.

“Is this about something a traitor said?” Naofumi asked with a glance to who was at the Hero’s side… for someone who values loyalty, he was listening to someone who betrayed another. Myne looked a bit angered at the reminder that her plan was foiled. Surprised that she even was in the spear user’s party.

Note: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter… I have no idea how Operation Siren will affect my writing but who knows.

calderoneric758: So thoughts on touhou characters joining the harem mainly sakuya ultimate maid waifu time lord jojo

Response: Not in Naofumi’s harem, no they are in Desmond’s harem, a connection to A Retired Officer’s Shop In The Eastern Wonderland.

Dcraus: Naofumi party

combo skill

Response: Naofumi’s party will have a bunch shifting in and out of the active party. As for combo skills… well there will be more options.

AO3:

Robbie2413: So this confused the crap out of me,

“ Tsk . The numbers aren’t going down, what are the other three doing…?” Itsuki was getting the feeling that the other heroes were having trouble. The wave depended on them to finish the boss monster. Suddenly, flares of fire created a cage around the village.

So I guess the question is, is it Itsuki that says that or Naofumi? The ironic part being that Itsuki is not referenced at all this chapter directly and I know Naofumi said that line so...

Another great chapter hip hip hurray for breaking canon even more. So Des knows about the multiverse and they have a Gap Witch and a Goddess that are apparently very literally real. The Question is will that shitty duel still happen between Motoyasu and Naofumi or will the King just end up dead? Dead because of Senka I would imagine or Des no clue lol.

Response: It was a mistake on my part, that was said by Naofumi.

And as for the people of Naofumi’s world… well they are not welcome by this world. Oh the duel will happen… just on Naofumi’s terms.


	16. Wake Up Call

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 16**

**_Castle Town: ????’s Castle_ **

**_6/1/0000: 1930_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“Not just her, I made sure to ask Itsuki as well. Raphtalia is a slave isn’t she?” Motoyasu asked with an angered look on his face. Naofumi felt like facepalming at the admission that Itsuki had decided to share that information… though it was not like it is a secret.

“Yes, she is… and why would that matter to you in particular?” Naofumi said with a raised brow… He kinda felt strange now that he was on this side of the conversation. It was surprising how the thought of how abhorrent owning a slave disappeared when interacting with his own slaves.

“It is not right to enslave others!!” Motoyasu stated.

“Not like I had much choice to get companions…” Naofumi said with a sigh.

“So fight me!” Naofumi got annoyed at the unhearing ears of the spearman, he kept his eyes away from Myne as much as possible to not have irrational anger boiling.

“And what happens when either of us wins?” Naofumi kept calm the entire time, annoyed at Itsuki for getting him into this mess.

“If I win, you release Raphtalia.” Motoyasu pointed his spear at the other hero.

“First off, you are discriminating against Senka, who is also a slave, second off, did you ask her if she wanted to be released? And finally, what would I get from winning?” Naofumi asked with a tired tone. He already had enough of this. Senka just waves with a bland expression on her face when she was mentioned.

“You have two slaves?” Motoyasu asked, his tone outraged as if having two slaves was worse off than having a single slave. If you really thought about it, you were a slave to the king, his loyal hunting hound at the moment.

“On another note… have you figured out that this is not a game? People do not respawn… So why did you not help the village who’s loved ones are gone now?” Despite trying to keep the anger down, Naofumi couldn’t help but show it when he spoke, the thing on his thoughts already coming forth from his mouth.

“What are you talking about? Are you trying to redirect the conversation and make me forget our duel?!?” Naofumi almost facepalmed, it seemed that he still did not believe it, the status magic the heroes have was getting quite annoying when trying to convince the others that they would not revive.

“Sure, whatever you say. Just don’t say anything to me when the people start blaming you for their problems… to be so far away from the populous is to be inhuman yourself…” Naofumi stated wisdom crafted by thousands of years of experience.

“To think he would stoop so low to using a slave…” Despite how calm Ren is usually, he was still angered by the revelation that the Shield is using a slave. Great, he had been expecting a plot from the start. Naofumi just decided to leave.

“A hero, using a demi-human as a slave? You truly are a rotten one. I order you to take the duel!” The king spoke as a guard blocked Naofumi’s path. It seems that he is not caught up in the conversation.

“Not you too you idiot… First off, from your eyes, I can tell you take great delight in the Patron of Demi-Humans having a Demi-Human slave.” The crowd almost gasped at the accusation. Senka was discreetly giving him words to use.

“Second off, you really shouldn’t be commanding someone who you yourself asked for help, it is honestly disgusting when I am not even a citizen of this country. Don’t even have the legal document for it at the moment.” Naofumi’s tone was as cold as the antarctic in the dead of winter but his words burned like the Sahara at high noon.

“Third off, did you forget that I know that the queen holds the power? Just because you are king does not mean you hold any power over me, regent or no.” The king almost looked like he swallowed a lemon, he had indeed forgotten about that information despite the false trial.

‘And finally, the queen heard of my situation and dispatched agents to get me a slave to work with… especially when you have imprisoned a potential party member under false pretenses, who I might add, is a noble herself.” Naofumi almost balked at the last set of works from Senka, he did not know of the last arrangements at all but he was able to read it without any showcase of his surprise.

“You, who meddle in the affairs of the people in a negative manner. Hold a religious position when needing to be neutral, and putting a single race in your crosshairs due to the supposed actions of a few. Are no wise king, no you have been reduced to a pile of trash on that throne of yours that others think is a pile of gold.” Naofumi pointed directly at the man who helped place a thorn in his heart. The nobles all gasped.

“And you know what, since I am the challenged, I get to set the dual’s rules,” Naofumi stated, he was putting on an impromptu show for the nobles, who very well had slaves of their own.

“First, the duel will happen tomorrow evening. No killing, maiming or calling in allies to help. Senka will be observing anything on your side, but it is more of a handicap on me than anything, your party just sits and watches you fight. They do not do the work that is required to save the world… much less themselves.” Naofumi states all the regulations as well as the frank opinion about his companions. The girls all felt that he could see through everything.

“All spears and shields that have been unlocked within our specific legendary weapons are allowed. No abilities that will destroy the venue. As for my rewards when I win, having your party members actually woman up and stop hiding behind you. And considering that I have been doing a very good job as a therapist, they can come to schedule an appointment with me to talk about their worries. If I lose, depending on whether or not Raphtalia or Senka want to become free, I will free them.” 

“A win is decided by knock out of an individual, or a restraint lasting for at least 10 seconds.” Naofumi finished off the rest of the terms.

“These are my terms and conditions, accept them, or just move on,” Naofumi stated with a cold tone, his emotional exhaustion was catching up to him very quickly. Especially when he is holding his anger in.

“Fine, I accept.” Motoyasu took a few moments to actually think on the terms, every one of them was fair. Naofumi just nodded before going to the inn for the night, tomorrow he would have to use the copy ability extensively.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Erhard’s Smithy_ **

**_6/2/0000: 1500_ **

“So this is for the fight you are in later today?” The smith asked while placing a set of shields onto the counter, various ones created by Naofumi’s designs as a gift before they left for the dragon hourglass.

“I wanted to try their weapon copy function, but I must ask, how much in total?” Naofumi looked at the various strange shields on the counter. He would no be like them and would actually pay.

“Weapon copy huh… wait, that was what those kids were doing?” the smith was outraged by the blatant theft that happened. Naofumi just shrugged.

“Alright, since you told me, gave me the weapon designs, and are only going to copy it and not just take the entire thing, 100 silvers in total.” It was probably only the labor cost that was given to Naofumi, so he just paid it in full.

“Oh yeah, the Pharmacist and Witch want to see you later.” The smith said as Naofumi picked up each shield and copied it. Naofumi already knew about the Pharmacist, in fact, they have been doing quite a few deals.

“Alright then, thanks for everything boss,” Naofumi said while walking out the door with the rest of the party, no longer doubting him when he has all those new shields to use.

“Well then, what was this about another party member?” Naofumi asked while looking directly at Senka, though Melina was trying to whistle innocently… and failing horribly.

“I only knew about this recently when I was talking to some nobles around the banquet. Melina would know better.” Immediately pushing the blame onto Melina, Senka retreated from the gaze of her master.

“Alright, then Melina… care to explain?” Naofumi turned his attention to the only nonslave member of his party, a quirked brow and a calm tone was used to enhance the effect.

“Well I found… well a Knight… you know Ellen…?” There was only one interdimensional Knight, well many different splinters in many different dimensions.

“So her shards even reached here…” Naofumi said with an interested expression.

“Eclair Seaetto, daughter of the right-hand knight of the queen. Was imprisoned under unknown charges… but only after the queen has left for the conference between nations. As of currently, she has been in her cell mumbling to herself.” Senka stated while standing in front of him. All he could do is palm his face even more conspiracies are on the king’s head.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Castle Town: ????’s Castle: Dungeons_ **

Eclair just sat in her cell, whenever she slept she just dreamed of a woman with the same shade of hair. Everything she woke from those dreams she heard a more distinct voice every time till it was now, listening to a young woman’s voice much like her own.

“I know I have to get out of here…” Her one-sided mumbles had stopped any of the guards from trying to do anything unsavory. Her body felt uncomfortable, but mainly her left arm, it was as if she was missing something on there. The feeling became more apparent every moment the voice in her head spoke.

“I know, by the grace of Michael.” She mumbled out, talking to someone no one else could see. In fact, spending a few weeks inside the cell really didn’t make her any messier, she looked the same as after she cleaned herself.

**_Castle Town: ????’s Castle: Arena: Naofumi’s Prep Room_ **

**_6/2/0000: 1650_ **

The room was darkened, probably made for the side that had no chance. Naofumi only saw practice swords abound, almost as if they tried to taunt him. He closed his eyes and tapped his fingers on the shield, sitting on a bench that was built into the back of the room.

The sounds of the announcer were muffled, barely discernible to Naofumi as the doors slowly opened. He silently stood up and walked forward into the darkened hall, a way to frame him like a villain.

“The duel will take place in front of the Pope and King and is thus legitimate.” The man announced, the king and his aides in the main box. A seemingly kind old man sat with several of his own guards inside the opposite box.

“Remember that folk tale of the unstoppable spear and the immoveable shield?” Motoyasu asked for some banter between them. Naofumi just looked annoyed, he already knew what he is trying to say.

“Naofumi, be a man and admit defeat!” He spun his spear with a flourish to get ready, though Naofumi felt actual adventures who used spears were facepalming at the unskilled use of it.

“ **Shield Of Blessings II** .” Naofumi stated matter of factly, the shield looking much the same besides the suddenly glowing sigil of light floating above the face. It is his strongest shield at the moment… at least the one he had access to. The church members almost balked at the shield.

“Ready…” The arbiter spoke for the audience and dueling pair. Naofumi just closed his eyes, letting his senses expand. Motoyasu changed his spear as well as he crouched low.

“Begin!” Motoyasu quickly started charging at the hero in green, somehow fitting their gem’s colors. Naofumi’s eyes snapped open at the statement, he adjusted his stance, lying in wait for the charging spearman.

“Naofumi has won,” Melina spoke up while sitting beside the other half of the heroes, a skilled spear user herself, she could already predict the loss of the hero in red. The other two looked surprised at her analysis. Senka just kept looking at the audience, specifically the Spear’s party.

Naofumi blocked both blows without even flinching, directing the momentum away on the second strike, making Motoyasu overextend. Naofumi silently switched to his  **Rope Shield** and used the signature ability to wrap around the spear man’s right arm.

“Fight me fairly!” The other young man yelled while trying to recover, but Naofumi’s hold on him kept the other hero out of balance. Naofumi started counting loudly, reminding the audience about the timer condition he set.

Naofumi made sure to keep an eye behind him, waiting for the attack that would come soon, he knew the betrayer would try to do something despite the rules set.

“This is fair you dumb ass, I have other skills and need to fight smartly,” Naofumi said with a sigh, easily binding the other arm as Motoyasu tried to punch him with it. With being the muscle head that he is, Motoyasu tried to kick the man, letting Naofumi get a three-point hold.

“ **Air Strike Shield** . Really, you wanted an instant loss like that? Didn’t think that I was paying attention to the battlefield like a good fighter?” Naofumi said while blocking the sudden attack from Myne. The transparent green shield blocked the wind’s force, just leaving a gentle breeze for Naofumi’s hair to sway in.

“Senka, if you would…” Naofumi stated, but Senka was already rounding up Motoyasu’s party, though it was far rougher treatment for Myne. Her impassive face as she bound their wrists with metal wires.

“I recommend you don’t struggle, the wires will just cut you up if you try,” Senka stated for everyone to hear, her uncaring voice and appearance as she walked down into the arena. Some of the higher church members looked shocked at her appearance.

“The third rule I set into place as the challenged, no help from our party members. It was supposed to be a one on one duel. Your side has broken that rule and it is an automatic win for me.” Naofumi stated to Motoyasu’s stunned expression.

“On that note, I am untying you, don’t cause any trouble… it just looks pitiful if you do,” Naofumi states, trying to keep his anger controlled, while in battle it was like a cold blade, ready to cut into Motoyasu, right now it was trying to turn into a wildfire… ready to burn anything if something were to happen.

“Alright then, let’s discuss my winning rewards,” Naofumi said while standing in front of the sitting group, though Myne’s hands were still bound, she was the one who tried to influence the match with her magic after all. Senka stood beside him, her daggers glinting in the firelight.

“First up is something that you probably haven’t noticed, your party is weak Motoyasu, they will not be able to help in waves if you do everything for yourself. They are in the mindset that they don’t have to do work in order to stand by your side… not knowing that they will end up dying if they don’t get strong.”

“I know you want them to stay out of danger… and if I could help it I would do the same for my own party… But you have to remember, to spend any time near you is hazardous. They are too caught up in the idea to ride on your coattails… and to be clear, this is meant to be a wake-up call to you three as well.”

“Your weakness and ignorance killed 3 people during the wave alone… without this intervention, you will go on to have much more blood on your hands. In your hands as the Hero and his party members are the lives of the people, your loved ones, strangers, kings, queens, popes, cultists, and in the end, your very own lives as comrades.”

Itsuki and Ren sat up straighter, Naofumi was also addressing them as well, Itsuki was already beating herself upon the fact others died because she was unable to defeat the chimera fast enough. Though it did make both Naofumi and herself stronger.

“I am not talking about just the Waves Of Calamity, no I am talking about little missions between them to grow stronger. A single bout of carelessness could kill 10 people… higher as the situation escalates. To you, this might be a game, but to them, it is not Motoyasu. And to us heroes, if it is not real life then it is at least on hardcore mode… we only have one life.”

Naofumi left the voiced Ren as he looked over at the sword user. The two heroes who still thought this world was a game were pondering on his words. The natives all looked confused at his statement about the world being a game or something. Naofumi felt his anger bubble up more when he took a glance at the leaders and Myne.

“I need you to wake up, get stronger, and be ready to fight… For it is not just Motoyasu you are fighting with, no it is us other heroes and the parties with them.” Naofumi stated while staring directly into the three original members of Motoyasu’s party. With a bit of showmanship, he moved his body to gesture to the two leaders.

“When we first came to this world, we were united, ready to fight the threat that looms over our head. But look at us now, divided due to our weapons, prejudice, and the people in power that do not wish for this world to live past another day.” Naofumi clapped his hands together for emphasis, trying to keep the flair up to a minimum.

“Awake from your schemes and machinations for a better life, live in this moment right now, and survive another day. That is all I have to say. Become strong, I expect you to be alive and standing beside us at the end of it all.” Naofumi looked at the three girls with something that they had never felt before. Sure they felt expectation before, but it never felt this warm.

“If you need any help to get there, or an ear to voice your doubts. A counselor to speak advice, I am here, ready to talk. And to you our audience, are you willing to fight alongside others? That is the question I leave you tonight.” Naofumi swished his cloak as he moved to leave, stunning everyone in the arena with his word, so much so that Myne never noticed she was free until he left with his party.

Word Count: ~3200 Words

Date Completed: 12/24/2020

Note: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, a vast derail of the duel between shield and spear. Might go back on Hiatus…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment Cove:
> 
> FFN:
> 
> calderoneric758: You can't go wrong there wait who is in Desmond harem again I forgot and lastly what about yukari or ran and better yet oku aka the living nuclear hell raven
> 
> Response: From my other fic, A Retired Officer’s Shop In The Eastern Wonderland, and no one from Touhou will ever be in Naofumi’s harem in this fic.
> 
> AO3:
> 
> (On chapter 7)
> 
> havefeith: No offense, but all your notes are artificially padding the word count here on AO3. There is an actual notes section for each chapter both for before the chapter starts, and after it ends, as well as a general end note that will be attached to every chapter. If at all possible, please use them in future, even if it takes slightly longer. I was honestly expecting chapters longer than 2.5-ish thousand words, since AO3 lists this story as being about 46k words for 15 chapters, which works out to 3k words per chapter, including the notes and review answers. As for answers on AO3, you can just reply to the answer directly on the site, no need to add it into the story notes. Doing so just pads the word count artificially. It might be fine on FFN, since that site is still running the same framework they were running when I started on the site in 2008-ish. They've only barely updated everything for as long as they've run the site. And it's been running since '90-something, apparently.
> 
> Response: A majority of the time, I have to worry about suddenly being called to work, as I help my parents at the family restaurant, so I usually just copy and paste stuff in so that I am available to help. I have posted the average word count in the summary to avoid further confusion when that happens. As for replies in stories… It is also for the people who might have the same questions in FFN, so I post like this to avoid repeating. I will try to use the notes option from now on though… but I am forgetful.
> 
> (Later addition when I was going to post.) Turns out there is a character limit to notes… So into the actual chapter it goes if the ending part does not fit.
> 
> (On Chapter 8)
> 
> havefeith: Okay, a few corrections before I properly move on to reading the next chapter, 1) when speaking about the Goddess of the Sun in Shintoism, her name is Amaterasu, not whatever you wrote out. Sorry if that sounded a bit rude, it was unintentional. 2) just try to keep this in mind, there's no "I" between the H and T in "Raphtalia". That's the confirmed English name for the little Tanuki girl that later turned into a cute beauty. Yeah, you heard that right, in my eyes there's different types of beauty when it comes to women. There's true beauty, sexy beauty, and cute beauty. Of course, in my opinion, motherly looking (or mature looking, I suppose) women fall under true beauty. They have nothing to hide.
> 
> Sorry for the rambling, my brain has currently come off its meds. Or rather, my ADHD pills have worn off, and what's coming out is only barely filtered, but still stream of consciousness.
> 
> Response: Yeah… those spelling mistakes do get the better of me a majority of the time… I am just habitually doing Raphitalia due to the pronunciation in my head doing so, but I have been making an effort for Raphtalia to be used in later chapters.
> 
> (On Chapter 12)
> 
> havefeith: Huh. No notes this time. Surprising. 
> 
> Response: For notes, unless there is something that I did to mess up horribly in the previous chapter or am announcing a lack of chapters due to a game event, it is only a few words long.
> 
> Robbie2413: In response to your response: Yeah that happens.
> 
> On Naofumi's terms sounds fun!
> 
> My review: Well overall your chapter is pretty good. I can only imagine how the duel can go now.
> 
> I actually had to look up 1 word this chapter because I had no clue what it was and that word is "gohei" and what it is, is the stick with basically square diagonal ribbon on both sides
> 
> ~~~/|\~~~
> 
> ~~/~|~\~~
> 
> ~/~~|~~\~
> 
> ~~~~|~~~~
> 
> ~~~~|~~~~
> 
> Looks like this but with squares horizontally making up the ribbon, ignore the "~" was the only way to get it to show up as I wanted. So yeah reaction was what the heck is a gohei and then oh that's what it is.
> 
> So did no one but Naofumi's party notice Melina's Teana form?
> 
> Response: Yay, new words. And way back when they shared a room, heck even before that, Melina explained her transformation to them off screen. The knights and heroes on the other hand… not so much. Not the most perceptive bunch.


	17. Around The Town

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 17**

**_Castle Town: Aegis Inn_ **

**_6/2/0000: 1900_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“That was exhausting…” Naofumi mumbled as he lay in his bed, the rest of the party members were in their shared room. At the end of it all, he reached his breaking point… quite literally if the notification about getting a new shield was to be noted. The  **Shield Of Rage** was sitting there innocently, making Naofumi hesitate to ever use it. Despite its qualities as an offensive shield.

“Only as a last resort huh…” Thanks to equipping the  **Shield Of Blessings II** he was able to combat the anger generated by the tier one of this line… and he knew it was a line of shields if his otaku senses were right. Already putting it into the back of his mind, he just knew it will arrive at a moment of weakness.

“Gosh darn this world…” Naofumi looked out the window, it was slowly becoming a habit he realized. Very protag like huh. He needed to talk to the two that the old man had mentioned tomorrow.

“So much to do and so little time to do everything…” Naofumi said with a tired sigh, soon he would have to leave Castle Town, and the support from the kingdom would not be able to cover the cost of new equipment. Who knew that he would end up in this situation?

“And I have to save Eclair from the dungeons…” Naofumi stated, looking through the duffle bag of devices that Des left for him. Remembering the idea about the memory sticks, he brought out his laptop and one of the empty ones.

“Let’s try this out…” Deciding to put in the priest and knight class information onto the drive only took a few minutes. He placed the storage device on top of the shield’s gem. It was instantly absorbed into it.

“New information found in absorbed material, please wait till analysis and extraction of data is done…” The shield’s new information box stated. It didn’t even have a timer on it like the one for the wave, it was probably running in the background. Already regretting no putting it in a long time ago, he just decided to turn in for the night.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Castle Town: Slave Merchant_ **

**_6/3/0000: 0900_ **

“You really didn’t need to get another one you two…” Naofumi remarked while on the side of them. Melina was with them this time, looking around the room. The two slaves had insisted they renew the slave crest after the dual last night. So much so that it derailed Naofumi’s plan to talk to the people that the smith had mentioned.

“It is more of a symbol of faith…” Raphitalia stated as the slaver finished his work on her new crest and started on Senka’s. Naofumi just sighed, thankfully they were not hurting for money anymore. And the looks he got in the streets were far better than the ones before the dual.

“ **Slave User Shield** …” Naofumi mumbled as the shield absorbed the special ink used in slave seals, the data processing that the shield was doing in the background seemingly was not all that intensive on resources. He decided to equip it.

“I am amazed at how well you got these two up, at least 20 gold pieces if the demi-human isn’t a virgin and 50 if the human is not a virgin.” The slave master said as he finished up the other seal. Naofumi looked through the benefits of the shield, such as  **Maturation Adjustment I** , making slaves get more stats per level. He quickly noticed it was a line of shields, considering that he had the second unlocked as well.

“I am a virgin!”

“Still a virgin…” The two distinct tones of his slaves saying basically the same phrase shows just how lively that Raphtalia has become and still how much Senka stayed the same as when he first got them.

“Then 35 and 75 respectively!” The man was extremely excited it seemed. Naofumi almost sighed as Melina decided to look at the shield for a second.

“Ho? What does it do?” Already expecting the shield to come with skills, she decided to ask considering it is a shield about slaves. Though now that he thought about it, it would have been better to get the shield before the banquet in order to give another excuse… well you know what they say about missed chances.

“Growth Buffs for slaves, the one from this shield probably allows for slaves to grow up better in general, Raphtalia, Senka, compared to your mother and earlier self, objectively, how much better do you look?” Naofumi gestured to the mirror the slave trader had around.

“I look more filled out than before I became a slave…” Senka reported Though the shield shouldn’t have an effect on their growth before this… Naofumi got the feeling that the Shield naturally helped the growth of his party members.

“I look just as pretty as momma…” Raphtalia said while looking at herself in the mirror, a smile on her face that was free from the trauma… Naofumi just smiled slightly at that before looking around the room to see if there was anything new.

“Eggs?” Naofumi asked while looking at the carton of eggs, though the word carton did not do it much justice, especially from the fabric that is used.

“Ah yes, I see you have found the monster egg lottery…” The man stated before walking over to the case of eggs.

“Pay 100 silvers and you have a guaranteed chance it will be at least a filorial! Winning a monster that will double in value as it grows up.” The man stated with his regular grin.

“Filorial…?” Naofumi made a confused face, another monster that he did not know.

“You must have seen them around, they are the large birds that pull carriages.” Naofumi thought back to the large birds he saved in the village, now extremely thankful he saved them before the army could set the village ablaze.

“Those chocobos?” Naofumi was familiar with another large bird. The natives just looked confused at the name Naofumi spoke of, noticing it quickly he just waved them off.

“What’s more, if you hit the jackpot, you’ll win a dragon worth 20 gold pieces!” The seller opened up his arms widely, emphasizing the commercial. Though Naofumi felt that it was just an excuse to sell a bunch of eggs the man mixed up on accident.

“So a gacha game huh…” The lottery came at a good time as well, despite everything, they needed a mount. And for 1 gold piece, it would probably be more cost-effective to get a filorial egg rather than a fully grown one.

“Gatcha?” Raphtalia asked.

“Don’t worry bout it,” Naofumi stated with an exasperated expression. If it were any other gacha game player, they would probably just buy them all…

“Would you like to try? Do it now and it is a packaged deal with the two slave crests.” The man said as he stepped in front of Naofumi, looking right up at the hero. The shine on his glasses made Naofumi think of the saying, villain in glasses…

“Sure…” Naofumi said after thinking about it for a few moments.

___(THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Castle Town: Pharmacy_ **

“Relatives of mine in Lute Village told me to help you out.” The older man said while pulling out a book from under the counter, couldn’t have it out all the time after all. He leans onto the counter.

“Someone you saved?” Raphtalia whispered a question to Naofumi, he just shrugged.

“This book has some finer recipes than the medicine you bring me. Use it, it is yours.” The pharmacist pats the large book. Naofumi walked over to the counter and opened it up, he could only recognize a few words, a vast majority of it was probably medical jargon that only medical personnel knew about.

Naofumi just motioned for Senka and Raphtalia to come over and read with him. Though it is far more likely for Senka to know than Raphtalia. Melina just looked over his shoulder to read it… thanking her ability to go into Teana form.

“Oh yeah, the old lady from the Magic Shop wants you to come over, you saved her grandkid or something…” Naofumi nods in understanding before grabbing the book and placing it into his bag, he really needs to learn this world’s writing better.

**_Castle Town: Magic Shop_ **

“You seem to have an affinity for healing and support magic. And the young lady has affinities for Light and Dark magic.” Her hands waved over the crystal ball as she looked into the affinities of the hero and Raphilalia.

“Standard for a half raccoon after all. As for the other young lady, she is good with Dark and Wind magic. And the final party member has… an equal affinity for all elements.” She was a bit surprised at the last one. Though Naofumi knew that was due to the influence of her chasers.

“So, which ones would work best…” She said while shuffling under her desk, looking through what Naofumi thought were books. She quickly stands back up with a grimoire in her hands.

“I don’t think we can afford grimoires right now.” Naofumi waved his hands to try and stop her.

“It is free as a thank you for helping my grandkid.” She just waved him off with a smile.

“I actually would have wanted to give you a crystal ball instead.” She looks over to the ball that she used to show their affinities. Naofumi wore a confused expression along with Melina.

“You didn’t know? If you used a crystal ball you would learn the spell sealed inside.” She said with a smile.

“First I have heard of it…” Naofumi looked over at Senka who just shrugged, it seemed that all of them were new to this. Despite her experience with magic, she never used a crystal ball or a grimoire.

“But I heard the court ordered a bunch of them for the heroes…” She said with a slightly confused expression. Naofumi just got slightly annoyed when the revelation came.

“I bet they gave it out to every hero but me…” Naofumi was slightly thankful that he only had the legendary weapons inside the rules, whether or not Motoyasu did not use magic from his interpretation of the rules or was just being an idiot was up for debate though.

“Well, learning from a grimoire is hard, but if you keep at it you can learn as many spells as you want!” Naofumi thought about it for a few seconds, crystal balls might be the instant learning ones, while grimoires were the hard but more utilitarian version.

“Do your best!” Naofumi could only really get a cool mom vibe from the witch, which he found quite nice. She is definitely the caring grandmother type… She just places another two grimoires on the table for him to take.

“Thank you…” Naofumi felt a bit surprised as if a smaller weight came off his shoulders. Despite everything, he had not said those words to very many people in this world…

**_Aegis Inn_ **

**_6/3/0000: 1700_ **

“Definitely can’t read it,” Naofumi remarked while looking through one of the three grimoires given by the Witch. He sat in the common room of the place, though not many people were inside at the moment. He decided to help Athena out a bit while trying to read it.

“Trying to learn magic? The magic script is very hard to learn.” Athena asked when she looked at the talking young man. Naofumi looked up at the young woman, her eyes look interested as she looked through the pages.

“You can read this?” Naofumi asked, a little bit surprised.

“Not this one, magic script has two forms, but the one in grimoires just reads like gibberish for whoever does not have an affinity for the magic inside. Though I can piece together that you are reading an illusion magic grimoire, right?” She stated with an interesting expression.

“What is the other form?” Naofumi asked as she adjusted her glasses with her left hand.

“Well, in some ruins and dungeons, you will find magic script that everyone can read, but you need to be ready to use that magic immediately after to learn it fully. And it is not like everyone will get the same magic either, it changes based on the individual.” She motioned with her hands, almost as if pointing with a stick. Her white hair swaying with her movements, really reinforcing the thought that she is familiar.

“So I wouldn’t be able to read it?” Naofumi asked, Athena nodded to confirm his thoughts. He just sighed as he recloses the book. It would be best to read this one with Raphtalia.

“Right, thank you, Athena…” Naofumi said with a grateful smile before walking into the actual hallway of doors. She just smiled in response to his words.

“Naofumi-sama, the egg is hatching!” Raphitalia said when he was just getting through the doorway. He quickly rushed over to see the new companion. The other two stood around the egg, leaving a space in the center for him to stand.

“A filorial huh.” The monster sat inside the bottom half of it’s egg, looking directly at the young man in the center of the group. The bird immediately flew onto his hair, settling down nicely in the softness. Naofumi brought the shells into the shield, unlocking the  **Monster User Series** .

**_Lute Village_ **

**_6/5/0000: 1300_ **

“I can’t believe she grew this much in two days,” Raphitalia said while the bird looked over at her master and the woman beside him. Melina was helping with the reconstruction efforts while Senka was doing some training with a bow that Naofumi got her. Their newest human party member was still in the inn for a rest.

“The Maturation Adjustment helped. Right, Filo?” Naofumi said while looking at the large bird in the stables. It making a sound in confirmation.

“You named her Filo… as in filorial? Don’t you think that is a bit lazy?” Raphitalia asked. Naofumi already tried talking several names with the bird but…

“She liked that one the most out of all of them…” Naofumi remarked while looking at the bird that was actually taller than him. She made another sound in confirmation, closing her eyes for a second while doing so. She is quite the jolly bird. The other birds looked at the single of their kind in jealousy.

“Hey, look over there…” One of the villagers said while walking past the stables that Naofumi was in. Naofumi looked at Raphitalia for a second before they both decided to go and look at what was happening.

“In light of his exploits in the last wave, the Spear Hero, Motoyasu-Sama, has been appointed lord of this region.” Naofumi looked over from his hidden area in the stable. He almost facepalmed at the betrayer who was announcing this. It had to be something that was decided after the duel. On another note, he had to give Itsuki a phone later.

“To help with the rebuilding effort, we’ve decided a leavy a toll. Fifty silvers in order to enter and the same amount to exit.” Naofumi almost facepalmed, did she not know economics as a noblewoman? Motoyasu definitely did not know about economics. But honestly, Naofumi was disappointed in the hero. The three other girls looked exasperated at the entire thing. It looks like they have no control.

“That is absurd…”

“We won’t have anything to eat…”

And variations of the sayings previously spread around the crowd. Naofumi decided to walk into the crowd. 

“You wish to defy the lord’s orders?” She asked in that self-righteous tone. Naofumi was about several steps close to just having her learn several lessons in humility when he decided to speak.

“A tyrant is overthrown by the people due to absurd orders decreed by the tyrant’s regime,” Naofumi stated loudly, letting the crowd part for him as he sees the relief in their eyes as he walks forward.

“The shield hero?” Malty asked while looking at him. She had a shocked expression on her face while Motoyasu’s party members looked relieved. Over the course of two days, they grew into much more reasonable people it seemed.

Word Count: ~2800 words

Date Completed: 12/25/2020

Note: Hope you all enjoyed it… Operation Siren is quite fun. Merry Christmas y'all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment Cove: 
> 
> FFN: 
> 
> Arraia: Perfect and update soon please
> 
> King naofumi
> 
> God naofumi
> 
> Response: God might be a bit much… as for King, well we will see if that comes to pass.
> 
> AO3:
> 
> Robbie2413: A wake-up call for the other heroes and their parties. Love the part well if it is a game it is on Hardcore Mode basically Fire Emblem: Awakening with permadeath on really it is a higher difficulty after all.
> 
> The knights and heroes who didn't notice .... they are idiots and blind XD.
> 
> Now how will the King, Queen, and Pope react to Naofumi's wake-up call. I can imagine the Queen will be approving of it. The King may be affected by it and realize he has been a complete idiot. The Pope though somehow I feel like this may expedite their plans slightly.
> 
> Now then new party members. Hopefully Filo, maybe Eclair gets in on the action early, eventually, they will have Melty, but who knows who else you will add :P.
> 
> Response: Well the heroes have an excuse of never really seing Melina fight, the knights on the other hand… A wake up call like that has quite a few repercussions, but mainly to the party he was conversing with. Eclair is now in the party along with best birb.


	18. Off To The Races

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 18**

**_Lute Village_ **

**_6/5/0000: 1300_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“Honestly, Motoyasu, I thought you would take my advice. But here you are now, costing these villagers their livelihoods if you go through these actions.” Naofumi decided to be theatric in the way he spoke.

“What do you mean…?” Motoyasu asked, and Naofumi was ready to facepalm of his question.

“You all, has he ever had a conversation about money?” Naofumi decided to ask the three girls besides Motoyasu, they just shook their heads in denial. The mage like one was probably the one who handled finances, cause Myne certainly did not have a good sense of money.

“This village subsists on the mining of light metal ore, of which a regular person can only mine up to 30 silvers worth in a day’s hard work. You are literally making more money in a day than they can earn with their main profession. This does not count the costs incurred on their trips, food, water, and equipment all have their hidden costs, making the actual profit per day about 25 silvers per day.”

“You are charging them four times the amount they make per day, and that is the lucky ones who work in the mines. Children do odd stuff everywhere, you would still be charging them that amount as well.” The villagers all nod at the assessment.

“And in all of it, they have spent a majority of their savings on supplies to last them the winter. They do not even have spare copper right now to even leave the village to earn money.” Naofumi finished the statement with Motoyasu finally getting what he was doing wrong and being horrified with the results. Despite everything, he was able to get into college so it was not like he was an idiot.

“Yeah, our livelihoods!”

“Besides, you can’t just waltz into the village and call yourself lords.”   
  


“And it was the Shield Hero who helped us through the wave and even after it!”

“You dare complain about a royal decree!” Myne said while ordering her soldiers to point their spears at the crowd. Motoyasu was about to say something to defuse the situation.

“Melina, Senka, Eclair! Stand by!” Naofumi said quickly before walking to the front of the crowd, between the soldiers and the villagers. Raphtalia, besides him, was prepped for a battle that might happen between the two groups.

“Knights, as protectors of the people, you must stand down when commands such as these arrive,” Naofumi stated, already seeing that a majority of the soldiers were idealists.

“You who come making unreasonable demands without caring for the people will be declared a bad lord by the people, doing more harm than good. You who lack empathy when sitting so high up can not ever rule.” Naofumi stated frankly, when they are out of touch with the poor over even a generation, they become arrogant in their family a majority of the time.

Several people in black suddenly arrive in front of Myne in a kneeling posture.

“I hope you know who we are, Malty-sama.” Naofumi was able to hear the headwoman easily due to the distance. Using a fake name was pretty standard all things considering. But they were probably the queen’s agents, so why were they keeling to the redhead… then Naofumi realized why the king favored her so much.

“Why are you people here?” The redhead asked in surprise, her hand still up in the air to command the soldiers to attack. Seems like the word tyrant was more than fitting considering her identity.

“For you.” The woman kneeling gave a scroll to Myne, no it was Malty now, wasn’t it? Though to Naofumi’s anger, it was much better to label her a bitch.

“Naofumi-sama, who are they?” Raphtalia asked, though if you were to look and observe one of the women kneeling and Senka, you would probably see a very similar build and appearance, or as close as you could get with today’s understanding of the human body.

“Shadows.” Senka just stated while staring at the group of women, though she was not glaring at them, they were of the same side now after all, though she was far more into the limelight.

“So that is what they are called, fitting.” Naofumi already knew that there were some following him, and at least one following Itsuki. And the other heroes were probably the same, reporting to the queen while leading him to clean up messes probably…

“Raphtalia… who was your worst master?” Naofumi asked if it would be helpful for the request he would send to the queen later. The girl closed her eyes and shook for a second, but to anyone but Naofumi, they would see it as only fear. But Naofumi saw anger in her movements.

“Idol Rabier,” Raphtalia said through gritted teeth. Naofumi nodded at Senka who immediately took note in order for the letter that would be sent to the queen.

“Shield Hero, fight us for the rule of this village!” Malty yelled out after rerolling the scroll. She pointed directly at him for the challenge. The other companions looked relieved that Naofumi would deal with this farce. Naofumi thought about the janitor analogy once more… really making him clean up these messes. Naofumi just signed for Motoyasu’s other party members to speak up.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

“So you want us to race for the rulership of the town… and you can’t do it cause none of you can race?” Naofumi asked while petting Filo who was really leaning against him and receiving attention like a cat. All of his party members and the filolias that happened to be outside looked over in jealousy.

“Yes, we can’t lose otherwise the Spear Hero will be the lord. And as the current lord even I can not accept further taxes.” An older man si while sweating.

“Besides, we do not have the right to challenge a hero.” Another of the villagers stated. Naofumi was already cursing his helpful nature as the issues if they lost became higher and higher.

“The letter probably said something that Myne did not like…” Naofumi said, already getting a picture of just what the letter said considering her supposed identity.

“She decided to take it out on you?” Raphtalia asked.

“She sees him as nothing more than an object, as she does every person,” Melina said with a sigh, she already knew that mindset from what the 4 female slayers and the 4 dark elves in the group. Dealing with nobles was a horrible thing from their experience.

“Your filorial seems to be up for it.” Naofumi looked over to his bird, she was looking directly at the dragon they had brought as a mount. Naofumi already sensed a sense of rivalry that transcended even meeting each other only a few minutes before.

“So it is true that filoirals and dragons do not get along,” Raphtalia stated with a finger to her chin. Though sSenka already knew this from personal observation. That is why handlers try to never have thin in the same stable if possible, and if that doesn’t work, at least having two stables between them. It was so bad that they would even not use those spaces till one of them leaves.

“Please, we beg of you. We will even give you a reward.” They all bowed their heads to him.

“Alright, don’t blame me if I lose.” Naofumi just sighed as he responded.

___(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

“Sorry bout all that… I have no idea what they are thinking.” One of Motoyasu’s party members said. She arrived in front of him with Naofumi already seeing her of noble birth… perhaps a second generation? He could tell by how she held herself with both pride and a tiny bit of humility. But Naofumi could tell that humility was going to fade if there was no interference.

“You are a noble's daughter, right? The one who usually handles the finances I see.” Naofumi stated while getting Filo ready for the race. She looked a bit surprised about his deduction about her status.

“Yes…” She said with the same kind of tone.

“I can also see a shrewd businesswoman in you as well… trained by your mother perhaps?” He knew that the noble was low on the totem pole all things considered, probably a knight who recently gained fame. She looked even more surprised at his insight. It developed due to lessons from Senka and thankfully it was quick to do so, otherwise, he would be even more clueless than now.

“I am going to say this honestly since it seems that I am working as a therapist today. You know that you want a comfortable life without worry and would gladly abandon the fight against the waves. Got trained but haven’t been in many real combat scenarios.”

She stood there, reeling at the words that came from the hero infront of her. He was nonchalant as he spoke while prepping Filo, who was looking directly at her.

“Life is hard, especially when the waves will make it crash down around you. And to me, betrayal is one of the gravest sins, one that Myne, oh sorry, Malty has committed. So grow up and become strong, become someone your parents can’t make expectations out of.”

“And at the end of all of that, you genuinely like him and tolerate other girls around him. A good head wife or concubine for a lady killer like him. He may be frivolous, rash, and a horrible mix of ad traits. But he is a good man who values loyalty.”

“Before he came here, much like all the other heroes besides me, he died. Do you know the circumstances behind his death?” Naofumi knew he was going into territory that should not be spoken about, but he wanted a reasonable person to rein him in and have Malty out of that driver’s seat. She thought for a few moments before nodding.

“He was quite the heartthrob, and around the same time, two girls confessed to him. One was quite aggressive and the other passive. So after a while of his indecision, the aggressive one tried to stab the other girl with a knife, reasoning if she was out of the picture, he would choose her.”

“Being the good guy he was, he stepped in between them and got stabbed… but not by the one who had brandished a knife first, no it was the girl he was protecting. She reasoned that if they were both to die, they could spend the rest of the time in the afterlife together. The aggressive girl quickly did the same in jealousy, proclaiming if anyone would be with him in the afterlife it would be her.”

“In the end, he was stabbed multiple times by the two and died of blood loss. And probably developing a phobia of aggressive women who would be labeled as yandere by us.” Naofumi finished off with a sigh, indecisive like any harem protag. The other girl looked shocked at the story behind his death.

“On another note, I have an ideal woman that you should strive to be in order to fully capture his attention,” Naofumi said with a tired grin.

“What is it…?” She was definitely sympathizing with the young man.

“A wife who acts for the benefit of the family. She can be summed up in several words Loyalty, Domestic Ability, Wisdom, Maturity, and Humility.” Naofumi could already see she was about to say something.

“This does not mean she is a doormat. No, she has a hint of steel under that demeanor of hers. They will redirect with words if it means harm to their family. And in a traditional sense, they know how to fight.” Naofumi finished off his work with Filo, hopefully getting Motoyasu a good wife to return to. Already hoping his subtle influence was helping the man.

“You already know the way of words, now to learn how to soften it to the point where the target isn’t certain on how the conversation was redirected,” Naofumi stated with a grin as he hopped onto the bird. Showcasing that his conversation with her is finished and the race will happen soon. He was already thinking of introducing Kaguya to her...

___(THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

“The race will be 3 laps around the Lute Village’s outskirts. Whoever reaches the gate first will be declared winner.” The old noble said in front of the two mounted heroes. One sat on top of a blue raptor like a dragon and the other on a large bird.

“On your marks. Get Set… Go!” The man flared his arms downwards. And we are off to the races with Filo and Naofumi quickly taking first place easily. The first lap proceeded with Filo kicking up clouds of dust behind her, and by extension, into the face of Motoyasu.

“As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and create a pit in front of me.” A knight who was supposed to keep the race fair slowly stated while preparing for some magic. Naofumi had gained a substantial lead.

“ **Earth Hole!** ” The knight raised his hand out and a hole in the earth dug itself. Due to Naofumi’s position as the first place racer, the hole was meant for him. Due to Naofumi’s alertness born from too many of Malty’s schemes, he was able to spot it easily.

“Filo, on my mark, jump… 1, 2, 3!” Naofumi yelled out the last number, easily jumping the pit without much issue. Malty looked in surprise as Naofumi quickly ran past the gathered group.

“As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the law of nature and slow my target.  **Speed Down** !” Naofumi immediately noticed a change in Filo’s speed as Motoyasu quickly started to catch up to him. He quickly understood that he was deliberately being cheated on.

“Filo, step up in gear, we need to be faster now,” Naofumi stated, making sure to tighten his hold on her. She trilled in response and started to run with more strength, keeping about the same pace as Motoyasu till the effect of the spell was gone.

When they reached the gates once more with Naofumi in first, Malty was absolutely livid when she saw him come out ahead with such a large lead on Motoyasu. She quickly started to speak to the soldier beside her, not noticing Senka writing some stuff on a notepad while listening in.

“Filo, it is the final stretch and they will be getting desperate, be ready.” Filo gave a determined expression as she ran.

“What are you doing! Run Faster!” Motoyasu yelled at the dragon who was already going as fast as it could. Already regretting her choice in master, if she could have had the bird’s master she would be content.

“Decipher the Laws of nature and Hasten my target.  **Fast Speed** !” Naofumi got ready for the final stretch, just waiting to see what they pull next when he hears the dragon’s footsteps get faster.

“Get ready…” The hole was still there from the first run-through, and by the knight who was beside the path, he already knew that another one will be created.

“Let's win this… Filo!” Naofumi yelled out as another pit was created, already ready to use one of his skills.

“ **Air Strike Shield** ” Naofumi could feel his speed slow and Motoyasu gets faster once more. But that only got him a few steps behind the green cloaked rider. The green shield spread itself over the gap, allowing Filo to run right over it.

The crowd cheered happily as Filo once again hastened her gait. Cementing the lead that they had. Now that they could see whatever happened, she could not interfere.

Word Count: ~2700

Date Completed: 12/26/2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment Cove:
> 
> FFN:
> 
> (Nothing)
> 
> AO3:
> 
> Robbie2413: Wait Eclair is in the party now? Is that who was referenced at resting in the inn? Forgive me for asking but how did they get her out? I mean it isn't even mentioned how they get her out.
> 
> Ooo Malty is in so much trouble lol. She is a tyrant, isn't she?
> 
> Response: I haven’t even talked about how she got out… and will probably use that as a material for later.


	19. Camping

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 19**

**_Lute Village_ **

**_6/5/0000: 1500_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“You did well Filo.” Naofumi dismounted and nodded at the young spear user. While the obstacles were there, he knew that the other hero was no cheater. When it gets revealed later, he would definitely be outraged.

“I won.” That was all Naofumi had to say as the crowd cheered.

“We can rest easy and focus on rebuilding the village!” The noble said with a grin before something strange happened. A flash of green light happened besides Naofumi.

“If you have anyone to thank, it should be Filo…” Naofumi went to pat the bird on the body but just felt a large number of feathers. He had his eyes closed while doing so, missing the flash of light. When the new feeling registered, he looked up at the filorial… in the place of the Chocobo-esqe monster was a massive bird that looked more like a chicken.

“Eh!” Naofumi made a noise as she turned to look at him, a happy expression appearing on her face. Malty immediately went for the opportunity.

“Cheater, you did not tell us that your filorial was actually this tub of lard!” She had her hands on her hips as she accused the winner of the race.

“Do I need to keep listing things in a logical manner for you? First up, she evolved after the race due to getting exp from winning the race.” Naofumi sighed while leaning back into the bird… finding it was actually more feathery than fat.

“And second, are you sure that you are not the cheater yourself? There are holes in the course, two slowing spells on me, and a hastening spell on Motoyasu.” Naofumi said while using only two fingers to make points.

“Do you have any proof?” She asked while putting a hand to her face, Naofumi almost laughed at the redirection attempt. Naofumi just snapped his fingers and the knights that were on the course were unceremoniously dropped in between them.

“Thank you Senka, I believe these soldiers were supposed to be inside the town… but they were right next to the course out of sight from the town gates,” Naofumi stated as Senka went to his side once more.

“And I believe the queen’s agents can be the impartial party here and confirm that there was magic used on the course,” Naofumi said as the group of women appeared once more, once again in the kneeling position they first used.

“The Shield Hero is correct. We have found earth magic used directly on the course. As magic has faded from the heroes, we can not confirm the use of magic on them.” The head shadow said.

“I-it was that criminal obviously.” Naofumi wanted to point out several things with that statement of course but the Shadow beat him to it.

“No. The Shield Hero has healing and support magic. His raccoon party member is light and dark. The young woman has dark and wind affinity. And the final party member was with us the entire time, unable to interfere.” They really are the information agents.

“All of their affinities are completely different magic than what we found. It is clear that the Spear hero’s party was cheating.” She stated in a matter of fact tone, and the girl that Naofumi spoke to was immediately going over to Motoyasu to speak with him.

“Fine, we will leave for today.” Myne quickly motioned for the knights to grab their unconscious comrades before walking away from the village. When Motoyasu and the girl walked beside him they decided to speak.

“I am sorry for all that Naofumi…” The guy was at least able to at least speak of his mistakes.

“I still do not know why you go with her schemes…” Naofumi said with a sigh as he stood right beside him.

“She is the only one who makes plans…” Motoyasu just shrugged, if any of them talked, he would have gone with their words. But for some reason, they just did not talk.

“Well, hopefully, this girl will talk more. I have spoken some sense into you, right? It does not matter what position she is in. As long as you are careful and restrain them, you will be a good woman.” Naofumi said with a smile over to the woman. She just nods in response to his words.

“Oh yeah, before I forget. Here.” Naofumi passed them both phones from the duffle bag.

“Call me if you need anything. They charge on solar if you have questions about how, ask Motoyasu, he should know.” Naofumi walked over to his group who were speaking with the villagers. Not even giving them a chance to say thank you.

“Sir Hero, again, thank you very much. We don’t know how to express our gratitude for everything you have done.” The girls all smile at this.

“Just give us the reward for the race and we are even,” Naofumi said with a patient smile.

“We are going around collecting the money now. Please give us a day or two to…” Naofumi already decided to interrupt them.

“Not money. Your efforts of rebuilding take far more precedent than any reward that should be given.” Naofumi stated with a tired grin. Their expressions lightened at those words.

“Sir Hero!” The noble in charge of the village said in surprise.

“But then what can we give you in return?” Naofumi was glad that they were the honest village folk. Naofumi closed his eyes in thought before Filo tapped his head a few times causing Naorumi to look up at her. She pointed to a fairly intact carriage.

“If you feel like you are short changing us on the carriage, you can also give us some light metal ore to fill in for the rest,” Naofumi said with a smile, now he didn’t have to worry as much about carrying some more stuff. Though maybe one day he would have to get another carriage or cart if they got more people.

“Yes, sir hero.” The noble then started to have some villagers repair the carriage and start going into the village supply of light metal ore.

“Are you interested in becoming a traveling trader?” After all the villagers left to do stuff, the noble quickly went to the now along Naofumi to talk about something.

“Traveling trader?” Naofumi asked, it was a term that he heard in some light novels, but it might mean an entirely different set of things in this world.

“If so, this pass will come in handy. It exempts you from the tolls across the country, allowing you to traverse the roads freely.” The man offered the long pass to the heroes. Naofumi looked at it inside of his hands before nodding at the noble.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Road To Castle Town_ **

The group of 5 sat in the carriage as Filo happily pulled it, making sounds of contentment as she stepped on the dirt road. Naofumi was completely fine in the coach seat, though much of it was Filo doing her own thing as he gave directions. The passengers on the other hand…

“S-S-Sorry Naofumi-sama, can we please stop for a bit?” Raphtalia asked from right behind him. Naofumi looked back into the cart, Eclair and Melina were perfectly fine. Senka was a bit motion sick, but would probably recover soon… Raphtalia on the other hand was all green.

“Sure. I forget how motion sick others can get…” Naofumi said with a sigh. He pulled on the reins for Filo to stop. They quickly go off to the side of the road by a tree, making sure that there were no potholes to fall into accidentally.

Raphtalia and Senka immediately went out of the back of the carriage, though Raphtalia went to puke somewhere, Senka just stood on the ground to get her bearings. Naofumi noted that the sun was still high, and if the distance they covered before he had to stop due to Raphtalia’s motion sickness, by the time the sun went down, they would reach the forest near Castle Town.

“Haven’t ridden in a carriage for a while now. I usually just fly on my spear like the rest of the mages.” Melina said with a grin as she stretched on the ground. Eclair also got off the carriage and went over to the front of it.

“Sorry I wasn’t of use during the race.” She said with a bow. Naofumi just waved her off.

“It takes a while to recover from being in a dungeon, I am surprised how fast you did so,” Naofumi said with a smile. She was constantly shifting around, almost as if she is missing something, and that was true, she did not have a sword at the moment.

“I am sorry for-”

“Don’t apologize any more... just work harder to make up for mistakes. If we are too caught up saying sorry, then we miss out on the chance to make things better, which is now.” Naofumi said with a smile as he looked over to her. She just blushed in response.

“Raphtalia, you ready to go?” Naofumi switches his position to look over at the recovered Raphtalia. She nodded before returning to the carriage. She was up in front to learn how to lead Filo, she would switch off and have Eclair learn after.

___(THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Forest Near Castle Town_ **

**_6/5/0000: 1700_ **

“Sorry for making you do this after you let me rest on the way.” Naofumi set the girl down on a sleeping bag from the duffle bag. The other girls did various tasks around the campsite. Now that they had a carriage, it would be a situation they will be in often.

“Don’t worry bout it, just get used to it.” Naofumi smiled at the girl as the other two from the original party started to set up the utensils for cooking. He already knew that they were quite hungry, and a good meal will do them all some good.

“What do we have tonight,” Naofumi said while looking through the various plants they had on hand. The more perishable stuff would be used first of course. Senka quickly brought over some rabbit monsters that she hunted. Eclair just looked at everyone.

While Naofumi was busying himself with cooking, the girls were doing various stuff around camp. Senka was playing with her knives, practicing various movements.

“You know, he is far better than just after the trial,” Melina said to Raphtalia as she started doing maintenance on her spear and glass pole. Raphitalia looked over to the girl. While never really talked about, Melina knew what Naofumi was like before everything.

“What do you mean?” She asked, wanting to know just how different he was fueling it.

“Despite how he knew it was happening, he was far colder to the world. Right now he is quite happy, though it is nothing compared to his original cheerful self.” Melina said while checking her spear one final time before letting it float beside her.

“I think all of us did good in his mental health.” She said with a smile as she observed Eclair and Filo watching him cook. Filo had stars in her eyes while Eclair looked a bit out of place.

“No one can handle being alone for extended periods of time… no mind is able to do so.” She said while leaning back into the tree while watching the interactions with a smile as Senka decided to walk back into the group now that the food was almost ready to be dished out.

“I’ll be on watch tonight,” Naofumi said while giving a bowl of the food to each of the girls, sitting down to help Raphtalia to eat. The other girls look on with strange eyes.

__(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_6/6/0000: 0700_ **

“Sir Hero…”

“Naofumi-Sama!”

“Milord…”

Naofumi opens up his eyes at the commotion from his companions, three people that talked and one that was just laughing at something.

“Guess I fell asleep…” He tried to move his hands in order to go and get up from the stump that he was sitting up against… only to feel a soft sensation and a sound that came from where he put his hands. He slowly looks down…

“Ehhhhh!” Naofumi quickly got up and moved away from the girl that was by his side, she was sleeping. Though that wasn’t for long as she slowly got up, rubbing one of her eyes, everyone in the viewing radius would say that it was an incredibly cute action… especially Melina.

“Good Morning, Master.” The young girl said as she slowly turned to him, a smile on her face. Now, Naofumi was able to see what she really looks like. Blond hair and blue eyes along with a pair of white feathered wings.

“Ma-!?” Naofumi was taken aback at the title that has been added by the girl.

“Who is she!?!” Raphtalia yelled out while Melina was slowly dropping to the ground in laughter. Senka was holding her chin while thinking of something. Eclair… well she was knocked out due to the cuteness of the girl.

“How should I know!” Naofumi was also panicking… but not as much as when he first discovered the girl. Now that he was thinking a little more clearly, he started to remember the Light Novels that he read before… mainly about harem protags and dragons…

“Filo…?” Senka asked while walking toward the girl. The blond looked at the cloaked brunette and smiled at her… though not to the intensity that she smiled at Naofumi.

“Senka, Good Morning!” She said with a grin on her face, full of cheer this morning.

“Filo!?!” The other two yelled out as Melina rolled on the ground in laughter… though it wasn’t to the point where she was losing too much breath. The bird turned girl in question just waved over at the two who yelled out her name.

“Master, I am hungry.” She said while looking at Naofumi, a specially timed gumble of her stomach punctuated her statement quite well.

“Filoirial Queens are able to shapeshift… to become a human might seem farther than changing into a regular Filorial… but I guess it is far more powerful than what researchers have speculated,” Senka said with a pondering expression as she studied the young girl all over, looking with a fair amount of interest.

“What happened…?” Eclair said as she slowly woke up from her sudden bout of moe induced sleep. She slowly got up from her position when she looked over at the young girl… and the voice in her head started cooing at the cute sight.

“Fine… I will go make some food… we need to go to the slave trader’s today to verify and get you something…” Naofumi said with a sigh after taking a few seconds to think about the situation. He quickly walks over to the cart to grab a robe before throwing it onto the girl.

“Make sure you take that off before transforming back…” Naofumi said. If his experience in reading these situations are true… then even if he does warn her she would do it anyway… He needed to find some shapeshifting clothes.

Word Count: ~2600 Words

Date Completed: 12/27/2020

Note: Hope you all enjoyed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Review Corner:
> 
> FFN
> 
> Arraia: Perfect and update soon please
> 
> Magnificent
> 
> did the motoyasu dragon really become jealous of the phylum?
> 
> does this imply that a new member will be added to the naofumi group in the very near future?
> 
> Response: Yes, yes the dragon became jealous of Filo. As for her addition to the group… well not for a while at least.
> 
> AO3:
> 
> havefeith: Just a note, and feel free not to mention this in a note if you really want to, but you accidentally typed "sSenka" at one point. Easy to fix, that one is. Just type that into the find and replace field, and replace it with the actual name. No need to go searching for it that way.
> 
> Response: I usually leave it in order to be a reminder of my earlier writing and by extension, my mistakes.


	20. Get The Bird Some Clothes

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 20**

**_Castle Town: Slave Tent_ **

**_6/6/0000: 0900_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“Oh ho ho… A filorial queen?” The slave merchant looked over the bird with glinting glasses and the standard unnatural grin on his face. Naofumi just stood to the side already knowing a fair bit of information about them from Eclair and Senka. Though it should be noted the crown princess quite likes the animal from some roomers they had heard.

“Yep, we need her tamed since her last crest stopped working,” Naofumi said with a sigh, the  **Monster User Series** still worked fine on her but the  **Slave User Series** stopped working after the race, when she transformed into a filorial queen.

For Filorial Queens and Kings, you need a special crest to tame them… lucky for you I know how to do it… as a special service it will only be 1 silver with the recurring buyer discount.” He said with that same old grin of his, he was already expecting this. Naofumi nodded while giving him the silver, he had made sure to have a slave budget set up in case new seals or new slaves were needed.

A giant purple sigl appeared under the bird as the slave trader put his arm out… immediately as he did so Filo started to try and get out of the boundary through red barriers stopped her.

“Filo listen to me… You need this mark to stay beside me and grow faster than without it… I need you to endure.” Naofumi said while looking directly at her, he knew slave seals caused pain to the slaves when first being applied, it seemed that the higher the grade the more pain.

“Yes… Master…” She said with a gritted beak as she sat down on the floor, letting the sigil imprint on her chest. Naofumi immediately saw her level as she finished with the new crest, though she looked annoyed at it as she sat on the floor. All this at LVL 19…

“And this is why the service usually costs 5 silvers to do, more if the king or queen is of a higher level.” The slave seller said while wiping his brow with a handkerchief, his grin still on his face.

“Alright then, Filo get up, we need to get you clothes that won’t rip when you transform,” Naofumi said with a sigh as he made sure to carry a cloak on him just in case of a wardrobe malfunction.

“Come again.” The slaver said with a smile, already knowing that he would be back if that filorial grew so quickly and became so strong… or just to buy other slaves.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Erhard’s Smithy_ **

**_6/6/0000: 1000_ **

“Welcome.” The smith greeted the group who just barely arrived when he was about to have his lunch. He looked over at the group of six that had arrived. The little girl in the center looked at his sandwich with sparkling eyes.

“Man, don’t come by just to show off your new slaves.” The smith said with a good-natured laugh.

“Well you are one of the places to equip them.” Naofumi already thought about movement restrictions in Filo’s larger form… as well as the wardrobe malfunction from transforming. She could not fight in closed spaces, so he would have to figure out how.,

“Another little girl and an adult?” The smith said with a grin.

“Only the little girl is a slave, the adult is not one,” Naofumi said with a sigh, he would have to explain to Eclair about his bonuses later now that she just barely found out that Raphtalia and Senka were slaves.

“Master, I am hungry,” Filo said before turning to her master with begging eyes.

“Want a bite?” The man with the sandwich asked.

“I would recommend you not,” Naofumi said with a sigh.

“It is fine, how big of a bite could she take?” He said with a good-natured smile. Filo suddenly turned into her filorial queen form and ate the entire sandwich.

“I did warn you,” Naofumi said with a sigh as Melina held back her laughter, he noticed that she is far less stressed lately. Raphtalia held the now turned back Filo as she forced the bird to bow, along with Naofumi also doing so.

“Here, I really should have a way to mass-produce this now.” It is an IOU food ticket for him to make something, especially when they get baited by Filo in her human form and just eat stuff in her Filorial form. All the other girls already knew it would be a hot commodity among people who have eaten his food.

“So what do you need…” He said while looking at the young girl.

“We need to get her clothes that don’t break when transforming, but more to your expertise, a sword and some armor for Eclair the rosette,” Naofumi said with a calm expression back on his face.

“While you should go to the tailor to talk about transforming clothes, you can see if anything fits with the young woman.” He said with a grin back on his face, he recovered from the stolen sandwich surprisingly quickly.

Eclair quickly started to try the swords in the store in order to find what would do her well. Naofumi already thought about getting Raphtalia more swords to use. Melina had some idea of how female slayers trained.

“No, it is a bit too heavy for me…” Eclair said while testing various swords with a few simple swings. She was not commenting to anyone physically in the room as she was speaking into a mirror.

“This one will do for now,” Eclair said while testing a simple sword without very many ornamentations. A flurry of slashes quickly showed her being far more skilled than many Naofumi had seen… at least for European style sword fighting.

“Sir Hero, this sword will do for now.” She stats while placing it onto the counter for the smith to check the actual sword. She quickly starts looking through armors and looking to the reflection of the mirror for feedback.

“I think she might be crazy…” The smith whispered to Naofumi as he watched the woman have a conversation with herself.

“Don’t worry about it… when having strong people ever not have something unique about them?” Naofumi said with a sigh, every person in power did something strange usually.

“Here’s the payment,” Naofumi said after Eclair set down the armor set that she had picked. The smith nodded while doing one final check that everything was in order, though he already knew Naofumi would not do anything to really cheat him.

___(THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Castle Town: The Tailor_ **

“So cute!” The young blond woman said as she looked at Filo with stars in her eyes. Eclair and Melina would attest to her saying as well.

“She is like an angel… no she has wings, so she really is an angel.” She said while looking over to Raphtalia, who just gave a pity laugh. She was still a child until just recently so the memory of being looked at quite a bit was still fresh in her mind.

“Am I cute, Master?” Filo asked after turning around. Naofumi kept his face stone cold before stating his response.

“Yes.” That was all he said but the praise sent Filo into a state of euphoria. Her already cheerful smile just grew brighter. The young woman in seiza position just smiled as she looked over the young girl… though she was only a few days old if you really want to think about it.

“Complements do make the girls cuter.” She said with closed eyes as if lecturing everyone in the room.

“Master, are you Filo’s father?” Filo asked in the third person… though what did Naofumi expect before? He did not know what anymore. How the question came to the bird’s mind went over Naofumi’s head.

“Nope. Do I look old enough to be a father?” That was all Naofumi said in response. Though if he were to say anything, it would be Big Brother that he would use. He is still 18 years old after all… though he did have experience with children when he took care of his younger brother.

“Then what does that make Onee-Chan?” Filo asked while looking at Raphtalia.

“A trusted comrade,” Naofumi said with closed eyes, already thinking about what he was about to say instead of that… Did he grow that old in mind already?

“Do you know of any clothes that won’t rip when the user transforms and returns back when they go back to normal?” Naofumi decided to ask before the conversation could get to any of the other girls.

“Oh, so that is what you were looking for? Did you bring somed magic thread?” She asked while looking at him, business before pleasure after all.

“Magical thread?” Naofumi asked… it was starting to feel more like a fetch quest than anything… though that was only a passing thought. The younger blond in the shop just looked around at the various mannequins in various dresses.

“Transforming clothes must be made out of thread that is made using the weaver’s own mana.” Naofumi suddenly got why the smith did not have any premade transforming clothes, they needed to be made to order and it would be a Tailor who would handle it.

“So it is custom made?” Raphtalia asked in interest.

“Indeed.” The seamstress answered the curious raccoon’s question easily, and with quite a bit of cheer.

“If you got me some magic thread, I could make the cutest dress ever!” She adjusted her glasses with a flourish and looked directly at Naofumi with stars in her eyes. Naofumi almost wanted to ask her about using the two-headed dog leather for a cloak.

“The best person to ask would be the witch,” Senka said with a board tone. She was not that into clothing anyway, though she did quite like the dress that she used in the banquet hosted by the king.

“Alright, thanks,” Naofumi said with a nod of his head before motioning for everyone to leave.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Castle Town: Magic Shop_ **

“Magic thread huh.” The witch said while standing behind the counter where she gave the group the three grimoires, though Naofumi and Raphtalia learned quite a bit from them, they still did not fully understand the words inside of the books.

“You could certainly spin it here.” She said with Naofumi already feeling a but to the statement.

“But not right now, my magic crystal broke recently.” She motioned to a machine made of wood off to the side of the shop.

“Is it expensive?” Naofumi asked the main contributor that would cause her not to be able to immediately replace it in his mind.

“Why certainly it is, the larger issue is that it is constantly in short supply.” She said after turning her head back to the young man.

“Well, that is a problem,” Raphtalia commented on the new information given to them. Though Naofumi thought about why the gemstone would be so scarce, there probably are not many magic shops that need it at one time.

“I’ll talk to some people and try and get one as soon as possible. Could you give me more time?” Naofumi put a gloved hand to his chin, while it was not as urgent as some other things and could wait, it was still distracting to some when a naked child suddenly appears in the place of a bird… though when you really think about it, the more surprising thing is of a bird changing to a young girl.

“Hey, what is this?” Filo had returned from looking around the shop, making sure to not touch stuff without permission, especially from the lecture that Naofumi gave her after the course touching of weapons in the Smithy.

“A crystal ball. It measures magic affinity.” The woman immediately went into her kind grandmother form and explained to the young girl about what the ball did. Now that Naofumi thought about it, it would be a good idea to have her learn magic as well.

“Can you measure her affinity?” Naofumi asked with a calm voice. He was already thinking about finding a place to get some magic crystals.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Road_ **

“Filo is in a good mood,” Raphtalia said now that she was practicing what she learned from Naofumi by observation… though it was not like Filo was a hard mount to work with either. Filo was singing about various stuff, such as learning that she has a wind affinity or kicking Motoyasu away.

“It’ll be awhile before we get her clothes, so I have to keep an extra cloak on me,” Naofumi said with a smile from inside the carriage, Raphtalia was far from being the same girl who got severely motion sick.

“Well making money is good,” Melina said while watching through the back of the carriage. Senka had her eyes closed and was sensing for any presence past the detection range of  **Alert Shield** . Eclair also had her eyes closed to talk to Ellen. Naofumi had a new shield equipped with the  **Book Shield** to really look like a traveling merchant.

“Master, there is someone running ahead of us,” Filo reported, Naofumi thought something was strange, usually, people would not run to their destination unless they were desperate.

“Raphtalia, Filo, pull up beside him.” Naofumi decided to help the man.

“Is something wrong?” They stopped just in time for the man to start resting on his feat, absolutely exhausted as he puts his hands on his knees.

“Please let me ride in your carriage.” He said in a desperate tone. Raphtalia made a noise of question.

“I need to get this medicine to the village behind the mountain at once.” The man said while showing a vial of medicine that he mentioned.

“Filo, how long at full speed?” Naofumi asked, though he would probably have to take control during that speed, Raphtalia did not have the skill necessary yet.

“Not very long, but it would be sooner without the carriage.” She replied while looking back with her blue eyes.

“I can take you for 1 silver.” Naofumi said to Eclair’s and Raphtalia’s disappointment, he already knew he would have spent everything on the medicine, but they were lacking supplies like food in return.

“But I spent everything on this medicine…” He trailed off as Naofumi said what he was really doing.

“1 silver worth of supplies or just pay me back later.” Was all Naofumi said with a dramatized sigh saying I can’t help it. Naofumi took the reins from Raphtalia’s hands, and hopped onto Filo, offering a hand to help the man up.

“Thank you.” The man spoke in gratitude as he situated himself on the bird. The carriage's connection to Filo was silently removed by Senka.

“Just pay me back, you better hold on tight. Filo!” Naofumi quickly brushed off the gratitude before warning the man about the sudden high speed they would be going at.

“Protect the cart and goods.” Naofumi said with a passing glance at the girls within, Senka immediately went to the Coach seat to be able to sense the world better. Melina situated herself in the back of the cart. Naofumi had Filo start running.

“Ahhh.” The man yelled out at the sudden start of their journey. Naofumi was easily able to control the bird. It took a while before they reached the toll gate.

“Here is my pass.” Naofumi said loudly to the guard while throwing it to him.

“I’ll be back for it later.” Naofumi finished the rest of his words to him before they jumped the gate. It took a bit longer to get to the village.

Word Count: ~2700 Words

Date Completed: 12/28/2020

Note: Hope you all enjoyed it… almost new years everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Review Corner:
> 
> FFN: 
> 
> Re Lovely Lover: Very much enjoying this.
> 
> Dropped the original because it was like the author gave up and asked a bunch of little kids what they want in the story and just started doing random shit.
> 
> The demon lord personality garbage, the out of nowhere new scumbag hero that caused the tragic death of Atla. And his overpowered somehow unknown group that popped into existance. Just a bunch of unpleasant or annoying shit that made the story unpalatable for me. The Atla bit after all that other shit she went through and then suddenly the surprise heroes in particular. I just gave up on it.
> 
> Before that shit it was really quite good. Very compared to everything else I read by that point.
> 
> Response: Fair enough, glad you enjoyed.
> 
> AO3: 
> 
> Robbie2413: well, gotta love their reactions to Filo transforming for the first time into a little girl.
> 
> Response: Finding out a giant bird is actually a small girl is quite fun to write.


	21. Merchant Life

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 21**

**_Remote Village_ **

**_6/6/0000: 1500_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“Mother, I got the medicine.” The filial son held the medicine between his two hands as Naofumi stood in the doorway. She coughed a bit as she tried to turn her head to her son.

“You go boil some water, I’ll administer the medicine,” Naofumi said as he arrived at the side of the other man in the room.

“But…” Naofumi could tell he was hesitant.

“Think of it as a free service,” Naofumi said with a calm tone, already thinking about his medicine enhancement. The man just nodded and gave the vial of potion to Naofumi before leaving the room. The older woman was facing away from him as she coughed.

Naofumi administered the potion orally, tipping the contents into her mouth slowly for her to drink. When it was all empty, she glowed briefly.

“Why thank you.” The older woman was still a bit weak, but some moderate exercise would fix that. The other man returned to the room with a cup of hot water on a tray.

“Mother! The medicine is helping already?” He was surprised at the woman sitting up inside the bed. She looked far better than when he left the room to boil some water as Naofumi asked.

“Yes. The pain went away in an instant.” She replied to her son in a matter of fact tone.

“Thank you.” She nodded to the young man who administered her medicine. Naofumi just smiled slightly in return. He quietly inspected her while she was moving, no complications or side-effects it seemed.

“I’ll be outside waiting,” Naofumi said before leaving the room to the parent and child. He stood beside Filo who was standing watch at the house’s front door. He observed the sunset while standing beside her. They waited for several minutes for the man to gather something equal to a silver coin.

“Um… What kind of magic did you use?” The man asked Naofumi as the hero in question mounted the large bird.

“Trade secret,” Naofumi said with an enigmatic tone.

“Oh yeah, here. It should amount to 1 silver.” The man brings up the bag that he had prepared for payment. Naofumi looks at the food: potatoes, carrots, and some jerky. 

“This will work, see you later.” Naofumi uses the strap on the bag to hang it on his left shoulder. He has Filo start trotting at a slow pace.

“Thank you very much!” The man said to the back of the bird rider. Naofumi just waved his hand behind himself while he had Filo go faster when his hands held the reins once more.

“Carrying passengers is also a good way to get money huh…” Naofumi said while riding into the sunset atop Filo. He got a text from Elena, the girl that was now acting as Motoyasu’s voice of reason.

“Gosh darn it Motoyasu…” Naofumi said as he read through the message and the provided text. It showed a young woman with green hair and blue eyes. She looked quite distraught. He quickly read over what it said, finding out she would be sold as a slave and where to find her.

“Have to talk to Senka later,” Naofumi noted to himself as he replaced the phone without much issue despite the riding on Filo jostling him around quite a bit.

“Remember, we got cargo, Filo.” Naofumi reminded the bird that was carrying him. She made a noise in acknowledgment before carefully speeding up, making sure that he was stable enough for the food inside the bag to not come flying out.

**_Forest Road_ **

**_6/9/0000: 1000_ **

“To think that I would be traveling alongside the Saint Of the Heavenly Fowl.” The older man inside the carriage said while sitting across from Naofumi, his closed eyes and a smile on his face gave the impression of a kind merchant. Naofumi had been going to various villages and towns to trade stuff and gained quite the pretty penny.

“Saint Of The Heavenly Fowl?” Naofumi asked, the new title that came from the people was quite strange to him. The others of his party sat among the seats, with the addition of the recently enslaved Elena.

“You are quite well known around these parts.” The merchant that Naofumi brought along with him said.

“Traveling in a carriage drawn by the god of domesticated birds. Our saint travels across the land to treat the sick with his medicine.” Naofumi almost sighed, he implored the people to whom he sold medicine to never reveal his identity as the shield hero… and this is what he gets? Well at least it was not some extremely embarrassing title, he could live with Saint.

“Am I a god?” Filo asked while turning her head to the side in order to see with her left eye. And she completely forgot the warning Naofumi gave her.

“Hey! Didn’t Naofumi say not to talk when strangers are around?” Raphtalia quickly reminded the command that Naofumi gave.

“Sorry.” Filo was of course apologetic for her bird brain forgetting information such as this. 

“She can talk as well? That’s the god of domesticated birds for you!” The man said with a smile as he looked out the front of the carriage.

“She is not even a goddess.” Naofumi just mumbled… He already got the feeling that there was some kind of filorial goddess or something in the world. Melina who heard him say that just smiled in amusement.

“Naofumi-Sama, we have people up ahead, they are blocking the path,” Raphtalia reported like usual. Naofumi just nodded in response, getting upfront to see outside as the carriage slowly reaches a stop in front of the large group. The rest of the girls started preparing for the imminent fight that they will have to deal with.

“Woah, stop right there!” The group blocking the path had a man yell out to them.

“Strange bird you got there.” The man in the center of the group said, Naofumi already got the feeling that they were bandits of some kind. Naofumi motioned behind him, Eclair and Elena would stay in the carriage to protect the merchant if they were to get out.

“We heard an accessory seller was hitching a ride with you.” The man explained. The merchant in question leaned behind Naofumi to look at the group that was talking about him.

“We know he is here.” The man said as the merchant once again hid deeper inside of the carriage with a sound of fright. Well, they were paid for him to ride with them, so it would not look good if they just let bandits take the man.

“Quietly hand him over, and we will spare your lives at least.” Another man said, this time with blond hair and a shifty look, yeah, him saying that did not give a trustworthy feeling at all.

“Taking everything besides our lives?” Naofumi asked with a sigh.

“You are a pretty smart one kid.” The one that spoke before said while leaning to get a better look.

“You have a number of pretty ladies in there… Looks like we can have some fun tonight.” They all started laughing as Naofumi subtly motioned for Senka to see if there were any groups of shadows near.

“Naofumi-sama, can I cut them down?” Raphtalia said with a cold tone.

“Do not kill or maim them just yet. Just do enough damage for me to heal if need be.” Naofumi said with a sigh as he sat back down, ready to use  **Air Strike Shield** or  **Shield Prison** if need be, though he really did not need to do so.

“Filo as well!” The bird got out of her position as the main source of movement on the carriage.

“Don’t even bother, we got a class upgraded bodyguard. Sensei, we are counting on you.” The man with blond hair said as he stepped to the side after saying that and a man with long black hair stepped into the center. Looking edgelord as all heck, that reminded Naofumi that he needed to figure out what Ren was doing.

“As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and conceal me in a haze.  **Hide Mirage** .” Raphtalia quickly used her spell to disappear from sight, though it was more like bending the light around her. The bandits immediately went on alert.

“ **First Tornado** .” Filo finished her own spell just after, blowing a tornado at the group of enemies as Raphtalia quickly dispatched them in the confusion. In under a minute, they were all knocked down and in ropes with the help of Senka.

“Now then… tell us who sent yall after the merchant?” Naofumi said with his arms crossed.

“Some other trader told us to mug the guy that was traveling with you because he was carrying a bunch of nice stuff!” The one who spoke the most said.

“One of my own sold me out, huh?” The merchant that was traveling with them said while looking at every one of the bandits.

“What do you want to do with them?” Naofumi asked from beside the portly seller.

“Usually you hand them over to the city guards…” Naofumi could already tell they had thought of this.

“Kid, ain't you the Shield Hero? It is obvious cause you to have no weapons and only a shield.” Naofumi was extremely calm about the insinuation that they would give.

“We are just some adventures viciously attacked by the cruel Shield Hero. Well, at least the story used to get the guards off of your backs?” Naofumi said with a disinterested tone, unnerving the smarter of the bandits… if there were any left in the group that is.

“Exactly, they would surely take our words over the Shield Hero’s, especially if the rumors have already reached the town.” The man who spoke to the traveling group first with a grin on his face. Naofumi just sighed as Senka makes a slight movement, showing that there were 3 shadows watching the proceedings.

“Filo, you hungry?” Naofumi asked the large bird, she already got what he was going for, despite having a bird brain, she is quite smart… at least when the matter didn’t have food clouding judgment. The bandits look at the bird who had a menacing face at the moment.

“I am! Food!” She stares directly at the bandits, scaring them very much.

“You see, she is an omnivore and will eat just about anything with a gulp,” Naofumi said with a clinical tone, almost as if announcing the expected result of an experiment that has happened thousands of times already.

“Aren't you the Saint of the Heavenly Fowl? Are you willing to commit murder?” The men were all panicking when they heard him explain her purpose.

“And that is a title that I was stuck with. Besides, if you want your lives… you could give me all you have…” Naofumi said with a bloodthirsty grin, despite never actually killing anyone, he never really wanted to. If they refused, he would just give them to the shadows to deal with.

“Sides, you know the saying, an eye for an eye, a life for a life,” Naofumi stated matter of factly. And with that, they said everything like a pair of mockingbirds.

**_Bandit Base_ **

**_6/9/0000: 1600_ **

“Hurry it up, you are wasting time, Naofumi said while the bandits brought what they had, well everything they had besides the clothes on their backs. They were in a row to give the things to Naofumi who was in the carriage, though Naofumi already noted that getting another one along with another mount to go with it might be a good idea.

“Here are all the hidden valuables milord.” Senka reported while bringing over various metals, weapons, gemstones, and cold hard cash. She was with Rino, teaching the green-haired slave how to spot hidden things.

“We’re looting bandits? Doesn't that make us worse than them?” Raphtalia asked while looking at the line of bandits, many of which were devastated that their hidden stuff was discovered.

“You are wrong there. You see, they offered everything they had in order to buy back their lives from the shield hero.” He said while the men kept giving boxes and rolls to the man in the carriage. They all had tears in their eyes.

“He’s even treating their lives like merchandise. Sir Hero is a shining example of the trader’s spirit that’s so rare nowadays!” The merchant said with a smile. Melina just shook her head while making sure to appraise the things going into the carriage.

“I think this is more bold intimidation…” Eclair said while watching the proceedings. While she was in on 

“Due to the unexpected circumstances. What will be your compensation for the trouble you caused?” Naofumi said while looking over at the merchant for a second.

“Yes, I offer you all the knowledge and connections I possess.” The merchant said.

“Knowledge and connections?” Naofumi asked while setting a crate into the carriage as he once more stands at the back of the carriage.

“Yes, I’ve taken a liking to you.” The merchant said with his perpetual smile. Remembering that he is a gem merchant, it would seem that Noaufmi would be learning things about gem craft with the man.

“Well, we have some gemstones to practice with if the girls want to finish up,” Naofumi said while putting another item into the carriage. Raphtalia and Eclair quickly came over to get finish up for Naofumi.

“Alright then, what I will be teaching you is how to craft assessors.” The accessory merchant started teaching Naofumi about how to refine metals, use the tools required, and how to cut gems along with imbuing them with mana. Senka brought some of the less expensive gemstones for them to practice on.

“Let’s try refining some ore.” The merchant saw the light metal ore that was given as the reward for winning the race and saving the village of Lute. Both of the men quickly boarded the carriage and started teaching and learning respectively.

The ping of a new message from Elena reminded Naofumi of the world besides learning how to craft accessories. He looked at the merchant who just nodded in understanding. They could end off for the day right now anyway.

Naofumi quickly looked at the new messages sent by the woman. A chest with the words of warning about unsealing a cursed seed and the chest in an open and empty state were the two pictures. A quick read through was enough to get the gist of it.

Motoyasu saved a village with the cursed seed but due to Malty’s interference, they had to leave it. Another thing that Naofumi had to clean up at a later date, he would check after learning everything he could from the merchant.

Word Count: ~2500

Date Completed: 12/29/2020

Note: Sorry for the late chapter, I got caught up in work. But I hope you all enjoyed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Review Corner:
> 
> FFN:
> 
> Dcraus: have you seen the new trailer of dungeon fighters online because I did and it was awesome.
> 
> Response: I haven’t actually, should probably check it out soon.
> 
> AO3:
> 
> Nothing


	22. Under Ground Again

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 22**

**_Path To Magic Stone Mine_ **

**_6/14/0000: 1000_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

After learning everything he could and making connections with the various persons of interest that the accessory seller taught him, he invited the Witch to a mine where he learned that magical crystals were. He, Eclair, Raphtalia, and Filo were the others of the group in the mine. 

He had learned several things from the connections, such as Ren defeating a dragon over east and Motoyasu saving a village from a famine… though with the context front he treasure-chest picture, something would be happening to the village.

The person with who he is most connected with had no real feats that others knew of. It would seem that she went the silent vigilante route. Itsuki was just not known besides a rumor of being part of a resistance group in another country.

Melina, Senka, and Rino were sent out to find out which village Motoyasu saved and report the situation to him when they get the chance, they were sent after leaving the merchant as to not draw suspicion.

“I’m surprised that you learned where to find that gemstone so quickly.” The witch facing directly opposite of him said with that kind voice of hers.

“Sadly it is not all good news,” Naofumi said with a bit of a sigh, when was the last time he had any good luck come his way?

“It would seem that it is in a rather dicey location,” Naofumi said with closed eyes and crossed arms. Thinking back on the information given by the man in charge of the mines. Filled with monsters since a wave.

“Naofumi-sama...” Naofumi looked out the front of the carriage to see a temple carved into the cliff face, much like how a person would build their home inside of one if they were unable to build one.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

“The temple was once a notoriously evil alchemist’s base of operation.” The witch said as she looked at the temple that they were inside. Currently, they went into a cave that was not well-publicized.

“I never knew that there was a tunnel here.” She remarked as Naofumi held the torch beside her. Raphtalia, Eclair, and Filo were up farther front as their vanguard in case anything were to try and attack them.

“According to the miners, no one dares approach this place due to monsters settling in it. Be alert.” Naofumi said with a calm tone as they all used even steps to walk forward.

“Hmm, it is the same chest that Elena showed in that photo.” At the relative end of the hallway, they reached a chest that, like Naofumi mentioned, was the same in Elena’s photo, though this time he could read the words better.

“We pray that this seed never reaches it out of here. It is a horribly twisted manifestation of our wish for nobody to starve.” Naofumi already elt a monkey’s paw at work. It seemed that the village that was originally stricken with famine would be his next stop after getting Filo some clothes.

“Master, there is a path that way.” Filo was acting as their observer as she pointed out another direction they could go in. They turned to it, Naofumi observing for any real discrepancy.

“Filo, hurry,” Naofumi said while walking down the path with the rest of the group. Filo was still behind at the moment.

“Master. You see…” Filo was about to say something to the backs of the party before something disturbed her.

“For crying out loud. If you can’t listen to me, then I don’t need you anymore.” She heard the uncharacteristic tone of her master’s voice. She quickly ran over to get to them.

“Wait. A monster footprint, and a large one at that.” The witch looked at the ground which was indented in due to the size of the creature.

“Well, we have an idea on what we have to fight later… though it is good to be alert-” Naofumi spoke when the torch in his hand suddenly went out, he already knew that something was wrong.

“Naofumi-sama,” Raphtalia said as Naofumi looked over. He was infront with the witch right now to observe the print so they were behind them at the moment.

“Stay Calm,” Naofumi said while glancing behind him to look at the three girls behind him.

“Hey witch, what is happening?” Naofumi asked while turning his head back to the front, he already could barely see with the light now gone from the cave.

“I never want to see Naofumi ever again.” The voice of Raphtalia said, though Naofumi already thought something was wrong, it was far too close to him to be the real her… and it definitely was not a Satori that was voicing out inner thoughts of a person.

“Don’t let the voices mislead you.” Naofumi’s thoughts were confirmed by the words of the magic fighter.

“The monsters here provoke you by saying the things you least want to hear, in the last voices you want to hear them.” Naofumi already felt that they were being a far more malicious threat than the ape youkai. Several more words in the party’s voices were grating on Naofumi’s nerves.

“As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and restore our sight!  **Fast Anti-Bind** .” The witch used her magic to get rid of the illusion that they were placed under. A force quickly erupted from her wand and into the front of her.

“Filo, blow them away!” Naofumi immediately commanded when he saw that they were bats that were causing the issue. The witch had restored their sight but he did not know how long it would last.

“I’m going to blow you away!” Filo was extremely angry at the flying rodents and swung her wings, causing a gale to blow them all away and sharp winds to cut them to pieces.

“Are you all okay?” The witch asked as the spell finished, all the bats were dead due to the wind Filo gave off. The place was returned to darkness.

“Yes, I am fine.” Raphtalia quickly responded with a slightly tired smile.

“I am good,” Eclair stated with an even tone, though she was still slightly unsettled from the words that the bats had said.

  
  


“I don’t know when this will come in handy…” Naofumi said while looking through the new shield unlocked by the bat pieces.  **Voice Gengar Shield** was what it had unlocked,  **Sound Save Endurance (Small)** was the mastery skill and the signature skill was  **Megaphone** , Now that he thought about it, relaying information to an audience would be a good use for it.

“Let’s get going.” Naofumi returned to a standing position after relighting the torch that he was carrying earlier. He could finally see around him once more.

“You won’t abandon me, right master?” Filo suddenly asked, Naoufmi quickly understood it had to do something with the words said by the bats. He quickly went over and pat her on the head.

“I will always stand beside you till you leave the nest,” Naofumi said with a slight smile, after a few seconds of patting her head, he went to the front of the formation they decided on. When everyone got into position, he motioned for them to go forward.

“Something is here.” They finally reached the actual entrance of the cave, lit up by a bunch of glowing minerals. Filo already sensed the presence of something within, though it was already a suspicion that Naofumi had before coming in.

“That is the gemstone.” She said while looking at the back of the cavern, but a monster was taking a nap at the far edge of the cavern. The head of a monkey, the legs of a tiger, and a viper for a tail that was staring directly at them as it flicked out its tongue.

“It is a Nue, a bit on the small side but still dangerous.” The witch helpfully said though Naofumi was already slightly familiar with the Youkai. It was like a Japanese version of the Chimara… and the shield might just label it as such.

“This will be rough.” Naofumi already did not want to fight any battles higher than them, which this monster was not, and any battle that would be fruitless. Though it might give a good amount of experience when he thinks about it.

“The gemstone is right there, but we can’t get it.” The Naofumi said while observing everything, as the leader of the party, he had to make plans for the battle.

“Alright, Filo, Eclair, Raphtalia. We are the front line. Witch, you are the support.  **Small Shield** .” Thankfully he had a lot of good damage dealers, so it was up to him to keep them safe.

“Going.” Raphtalia, Eclair, and Filo rushed off as he finished the basic roles of the party. The monster dodged Raphtalia jumped up and tried to kick her with its hind legs.

“ **Air Strike Shield** ,” Naofumi stated while causing the monster to jump upwards into Filo’s attack. It was forced to him, to which Naofumi blocked. Eclair came up with a flurry of slashes to the abdomen of it before rushing away to stay out of damage. 

“No!” Filo quickly brought Naofumi away from the monster after kicking the monkey face. It quickly brought out a discharge of lightning in an area of effect attack.

“ **Zweit Fire Blast!** ” The witch used her spell to have it focus on Naofumi, which was infront of it. Naofumi spotted Raphtalia uses her illusion magic. When she got close, he noticed a twitch in its movements.

“Eclair, block it!” Naofumi yelled out, the snakehead of the Nue launched an attack at Raphtalia, but before it could reach her, Eclair showed up in between them and blocked the attack with a steel shield that she got from the bandit’s weaponry.

“What is it using… smell?” Naofumi asked himself as he tried once more observing its movements. Eclair gave enough time for Raphtalia to take a slash at the snake, though it only did some moderate damage.

“No, sound. It is really sensitive to sound.” Filo responded as she landed them in an area away from the zone that the eclectic discharge affected.

“That gave Naofumi an idea, the shield that he was unlocked when the bat monsters were around, he already had it equipped before the battle in order to get the mastery bonus like usual.

“Filo, yell into this as loud as you can.” Naofumi knew that she could yell far louder than him. He quickly motioned for everyone to get behind him before he let her 

“Everyone, cover your ears,” Naofumi ordered while he readied for  **Megaphone** himself. The ladies quickly did as ordered when they noticed the shield that he had gained.

“ **AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH** ” Filo yelled in it, the sound waves echoing off the enclosed space that they were battling in. While it was bad for their ears, it was far worse for the chimera that had extremely sensitive hearing. In fact, the eardrums of the monster burst, blood pouring out in a torrent.

“Finish it!” Naofume ordered as the girls immediately went to work. Raphtalia and Ecliar stabbed its heart and snakehead respectively before backing off to allow for the witch to stun it with her spell.

“ **Zweit Fire Blast** !” She intoned once more, sending a stream of fire over at the monster, stunning it till the spell was canceled, allowing for Filo to finish off the monkey head with a swift kick.

“You are still a bit inexperienced,” Eclair said to Raphtalia, she had already noticed the flinching movement of the monster, though it was mainly due to experience honed from a countless number of spars with knights who faced real combat.

“Right,” Raphtalia said with a determined expression and a nod at the words of her senior, though it was only really people that knew her true age that could tell.

“You all did well,” Naofumi said with a smile as he looks over at the crystals, a hammer in hand in order to extract the minerals. He looks around to find some with good clarity to make into accessories at a later date.

“This looks good,” Naofumi said while finding a cluster of crystals that met his requirements. The girls were all observing the cave in wonder, it is quite pretty. The witch checked the magic within the crystals to see if it would be good.

“Good eye, a chunk of this one would do fine.” She said with a warm tone as Naofumi nods to her words. He takes a light swing at the section of the crystal bunch.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

**_Castle Town: Magic Shop_ **

**_6/15/0000: 1600_ **

“This is making me tired…” Filo said while slowly spinning a thread of magic using the now repaired magic tool. They already had several spindles full of it. The thread was a shimmering white.

“That is because you are spinning a thread using your own mana. Endure it for a little longer.” The witch said as she observed the proceedings. Naofumi sat to the side while looking at the wooden contraption… thinking about if he were to get other monsters.

“If we need some more thread, could we come here to make some more?” Naofumi asked with an even tone, they already got this service free this time due to actively getting the crystal to do so.

“Of course.” She said with a kind smile when she looked at him.

“Come one, when you finish up I will get you a snack.” Raphtalia enticed the girl with a smile, Filo immediately went back to the job spiritedly.

“You know it is a nice scene.” Eclair softly said to Naofumi as they sat beside each other. It reminded him of when he saw her sitting in the cell of the castle… It felt strange to look at someone so like those Knights… Much like the feeling he gets when he first saw Melina’s true form.

___(THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Castle Town: The Tailor’s_ **

**_6/16/0000: 1300_ **

Naofumi looked at the young girl in the new dress crafted by the seamstress. White and blue made her look like an angel, especially with those wings of hers.

“Master, how do I look?” She asked while posing for the group. Naofumi nodded in approval for the craftsmanship and design.

“Very nice,” Naofumi said with a smile on his face. Raphtalia was pouting slightly at the attention Filo was garnering from her master.

“Yay! Thank you, master!” She cheered as she jumped up to him, hugging him in the process. Eclair looks on with a slight blush and a smile on her face.

“Sure she looks cute.” Raphitalia would at least admit the glaring fact that even she could not deny.

“Doesn’t it? I did my very best to bring out every last bit of Filo’s charm!” She was extremely happy with it, though Naofumi noticed the visible sleep deprivation. He decided to tune out the explanation that she would give in order to check his phone for messages.

Around a few hours ago, Melina texted him about the village and how he would have to be there to resolve the problem and heal the people. He could only sigh at that before putting that onto the to-do list at a higher rank.

He quickly thought about the route to take before deciding to get another egg from the slave merchant… maybe he would get a dragon this time around through the gatcha.

Word Count: ~2600 Words

Date Completed: 12/30/2020

Note: Almost new Year, might just update the other stories before returning to Haitus. Though I will probably finish up the fight with the zombie dragon and the Bio Plant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Review Cove:
> 
> FFN:
> 
> None
> 
> AO3:
> 
> havefeith: I think you mistook Senka for Elena at one point in this chapter (chapter 21, in case people see this review/comment), around when the Accessories trader (and that's a word you spelled as "assessors") was in the party.
> 
> Here's hoping this derails more than it has soon, because you seem to be rehashing canon right now, for the most part. It's a legitimate concern at this point in time. The only issue is that you haven't read the LNs, as far as I can tell, thus don't know about all the other things going on.
> 
> Response: Senka was supposed to be scouting around and Rino was supposed to be in the carriage. As for spelling mistakes, they always slip past me despite my using a spell checker.
> 
> As for derailing canon, as I have explained in another Review Corner, the first season and major events till maybe the second or third season would be similar with things happening slightly different, (spoiler) such as Naofumi working with Itsuki at the refugee village in the east.


	23. Plants VS Hero

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 23**

**_Road To A Village_ **

**_6/18/0000: 1000_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

Naofumi looked at the bottles of herbicide that he created, he was in the back of the carriage with one in his hand. In his other hand was the egg incubator that he got from the slaver. Eclair was observing Raphtalia who was driving the carriage.

“Master, the plants here are amazing,” Filo said from outside the carriage. He quickly stepped to the front of it after placing the bottle of weed killer back into the crate. Large vines were littered across the roads and hills around them.

“I can see why they would need herbicide.” He was already planning on bringing a smaller amount of it, but when the accessory merchant told him about a large order of herbicide by the village, he decided to come over with far more than he had previously planned.

“Something ahead,” Raphtalia pointed out the place they were driving to. Naofumi looked over to where she pointed. Log walls with vines also growing over them. He checked his phone after confirming it was there, looking to meet up with the girls who were posing as senior adventures… though in a way, they were.

“Milord, you have arrived.” Though the carriage was still moving at a swift pace, Senka suddenly appeared within the moving transport. Naofumi nodded at the cloaked woman who did not even disturb the crates of herbicide.

“Yes, how is the situation?” He asked while sitting down to face her.

“When we arrived at the village, it was already overgrown with plants, they had already sent for Adventueres so us arriving so quickly was a surprise for them. We just said that we were traveling adventures not affiliated with the guild.”

“They had already tried various methods, of which I will let the village chief explain, to quell the vine growth, none of them worked. This is their last resort. The situation has caused issues, such as monsters from the plant.”

“What are their characteristics?” Naofumi asked with a serious tone.

“Varied, some can spit acid, others poison.” She said in a swift and clear manner. Naofumi nodded, they needed to get the carriage to the village, so Filo, who was the fastest, would not be available.

“Here, use these to get rid of the ones around the encampment,” Naofumi said while giving her several bottles of the herbicide, already making sure to give her an invoice on the amount being used.

“At once milord.” She said with a nod before disappearing into a fog of darkness that she created. Naofumi nodded at the other two riding the carriage, giving them a few bottles of herbicide in case anything were to go wrong.

“Be ready.” Was all Naofumi ordered.

___(THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

“Thank you very much.” The village chief said after understanding that Naofumi was the merchant they were hoping for.

“The fort was just about to fall to the vines.” The elder man said as Naofumi looked over at the walls, none of them had reached over it just yet, but it was only a matter of time till they did so.

“Already tried burning them?” Raphtalia asked him with a hand to her chin.

“We have tried everything we could think of. We even summoned adventurers and the situation remains grave.” The village leader explained to them why they were going after this option.

“The village was already overrun, and worse, they had turned into monsters and started to attack us.” The villagers saw the vines finally reach over the walls.

“Turned into monsters huh…” Naofumi remarked while looking above the leader he was talking to, seeing some vines that grew over the log walls of the fort that the villagers were taking refuge in. He would have to talk with Motoyasu extensively.

“Some adventurers tried to go out and level, but some wandering adventurers just dragged them back, bruised and battered from the monsters. Their leader treated them and they are still unconscious in that tent.” He gestured to a tent in the far off corner of the enclosed area.

“Though some escaped their watch and are still fighting.” Naofumi thought for a few moments, they should not be dead just yet.

“Filo! Scout the village and bring back any adventurers.” Naofumi swiftly commanded, he could probably get some good money off of them if the need arose. Naofumi already knew Senka’s team had already scouted it, but it would be good for a second set of eyes on it.

“Okay. I whigd bag.” Naofumi almost facepalmed, she was eating the fruits off the vines, wasn’t she? The bird swiftly ran out of the gates and to the village proper to recheck the village.

“Alright then, we have 15 crates of herbicide. Each crate is 30 bottles.” Naofumi said while motioning for Eclair and Raphtalia to help him unload the plant killer. He actually kept about two crates for himself, it would be good for an emergency fight against the plants later.

“Thank you Saint Of The Heavenly Fowl.” One of the villagers said with an expression of reverence. The others just looked at the villager who spoke with a weird expression, did that title not spread down south?

“Plant monsters were all over the place, the same type that Senka-onee-san spoke about.” Naofumi already started thinking, they must not make contact with them physically.

“Why would these guys go when they are so weak? They must be idiots.” Filo said while shrugging her wings. She unceremoniously dropped the men onto the ground, not even giving them a second look.

“You didn’t have to say the second part out loud.” Raphitalia decided to start lecturing the bird, causing Naofumi to smile at the antics.

“Huh?” Filo responded.

“Don’t “Huh” me.”

“Ugh…”

“Don’t “Ugh” me either.”

“Tch.” The conversation went like this for several minutes, while they were doing so the villagers were talking about the bird. Mainly about how Filo could talk.

“That has to be the Heavenly Fowl…” And Naofumi got confirmation that yes, his reputation has actually traveled this far.

“Then he actually is the saint.” One of the villagers remembered how another of their own thanked Naofumi. All he could think about is whether or not Melina or Senka decided to spread around the title or it just spread here naturally.

“Are you the saint who travels by a carriage drawn by the heavenly fowl?” The elder villager asked him in an excited manner. Naofumi was just sitting on a wood box when he asked.

“Still don’t know why they decided on that title…” Naofumi remarked self deprecatingly. Well, it’s not like it is a bad reputation to work on, and besides, they would probably mistrust a hero from what Motoyasu had done to the village. The queen’s shadows were probably spreading it around, and maybe even rumors of the Saint Of The Heavenly Fowl and the Shield Hero being the same person.

“Could you please heal our sick using your powers?” The villager asked him in a pleading tone. Naofumi just motioned for him to lead the way with a sigh.

“Some of you are sick?” Raphtalia asked in order to get some more information. The man nods at the question, confirming it for her before leading the two into a tent for the sick.

“As you can see, the plants are devouring their bodies.” Inside various cots, many prone bodies were laid with plants growing right out of them, a parasitic plant it would seem.

“Regular potions might not work… but it is a plant, so maybe the Herbicide?” Naofumi already knew that the herbicide was safe to ingest and not really toxic to humans, despite killing a wide range of plant life. Naofumi handed the egg to Eclair for her to look after for now.

“Here try drinking.” Naofumi had a popup about  **Potion Enhance** being used. He only had the lad drink about a quarter of the bottle before he splashed it across the body, the plantlife quickly withered.

“It worked, for me, it is about a quarter inside and three quarters outside,” Naofumi mumbled as he examined the kid that he cured.

“Bring over the rest of the patients.” Senka did a very good job of keeping them stable, no one was at death’s door thankfully. He noticed the girls who he sent to the village first were all inside the medical tent, good, they took his orders not to engage in anything dangerous seriously.

___(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)___

“Glad that went well,” Raphtalia said as they walked to their carriage, Filo was sitting beside it taking a nap.

“I really don’t want to get stuck in this mess, but my duties are tilling me I will…” Naofumi remarked, he already felt it was too late. He had already made sure to text the photos of the sick child and the overgrowth of the plant they brought to both Motoyasu and Elena.

“Our Saviour Of The Heavenly Fowl! Please save our village!” the men were kneeling behind them when they had turned. They practically begged the Hero of the village.

  
  


“Let’s sit down and discuss,” Naofumi said with a sigh, he would also be getting money for this as well. If that accessory merchant was here, he would immediately prattle on about Nafoumi having the merchant’s spirit.

  
  


“Our village was ravaged by famine when the Spear Hero visited. When he heard our plight, he went into the ruins nearby and brought a seed that had been sealed there.” The man explained to the incognito hero. Well, Naofumi knew that Motoyasu’s heart was in the right place… he just didn’t think it through.

“At first we were overjoyed when the plant grew quickly and bore fruit. However…” Another of the men with the village chief trailed off.

“It grew too much and took over the village.” Raphitatlia finished for them. Well, it would seem they had a warning about this even before Motoyasu came.

“Indeed. When we were looking through our options, we happened upon a legend passed down the village. A long time ago, an alchemist who’d set up shop in this area created a seed, but said he sealed it away for some reason.”

“The legend also said that plants had overtaken the region for a while.” Naofumi always understood folktales, not just in the context of being literal, but metaphorical as well. They often warned of danger. Like vampires being repulsed by garlic could have been an analog for mosquitoes being repelled by garlic.

“There is a reason why legends are passed down… Did none of you heed the warnings of your ancestors and were suspicious of the seed?” Naofumi asked with a sigh as the villagers he was talking to had ashamed faces on their faces.

“Sides, you all should have had him wait for a few days to see if the seed was really so bad. You shouldn’t have just assumed that it was safe just because a hero gave it to you, he is still a human after all.” Naofumi said with a sigh.

“I’ll pay for the treatment and the monster extermination in advance! Please save our village!” The village chief offered a bag of coins, probably all they had left in the village.

“Alright then,” Naofumi said while taking the bag of coins, walking to the gates of the shelter while changing his shield, shocking the villagers that happened to be watching them leave.

“That shield… could it be...?” Some of them mumbled as they watched both the wandering adventurers and the newly revealed hero party walk out of the safety of this place. 

___(THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)___

**_Town Outskirts_ **

**_6/18/0000: 1300_ **

“Don’t get touched by those.” Naofumi immediately said when they were ambushed by some plants, ones he recognized during the treatment of the villagers.

At the moment, he had Senka providing support in the rearguard, a bow in hand, though it would not do much for the parasitic plants there were currently facing. Rino was also working as a rearguard, knowing a bit more about spells than the rest of the group… or at least spells that can be used for offense.

“Right,” Raphtalia said, she was with himself and Eclair with Melina being in middle guard. Though Melina would sometimes switch with Rino, having the green-haired woman go to the front lines while she went to the back lines. Though the rearguard is the least populated, with Senka also working as a scout and disappearing from the back of the formation from time to time.

“ **Fast Guard** .” Naofumi used the spell that he had recently learned, buffing his party members in their defense. Though he would rather be safer than sorry with any attacks.

Senka was able to quickly assassinate the plants by pouring herbicide at their bases, though it was not before the group had to fight them for a brief amount of time. They proceeded for a bit longer. Naofumi was already wishing that the egg that they bright with them had hatched on the way over to the village.

“The pollen is poisonous,” Senka said when they finally saw one of the more dangerous monsters they would be dealing with, a vaguely humanoid shape with a flower for a head, it was letting purple pollen fall from the flower, an ironic color to Naofumi.

“The second is immobile, but will throw out acid.” Senka was supplying them information from the observations she had made, though it was before all the areas were covered with vines and plant life. It would be what Filo and Senka were talking about, the acid plant and the poison plant. It was practically a pitcher plant, one of the carnivorous plants in his own world.

“And that is the main tree.” She pointed directly at the large tree far behind the other two, it looked old and wizened, red fruits far above in the canopy. In the junction, before it starts to branch off, a gigantic flower was blooming.

“Alright then, time to plan,” Naofumi said, they would be fighting on a rather large scale, so it would be best to lay some stuff out before they start fighting these three monsters.

“Raphtalia and Filo will focus on the large tree,” Naofumi said after deliberation, from what he expected from fighting a giant plant, it would use the vines as quick attacks on its foe. That, and the possibility of the other monsters aggroing on them was an issue that only mobility could help with.

“The rest of us will be dealing with the two lesser monsters, me as the main tank, and using my skills to help the pair. Eclair and Rino to deal the damage without getting hit. And Senka will be providing an eye on the situation.

“Melina, could you strike one of the vines and see if you get a chaser?” Naofumi asked her, she quickly did so, slashing at one of the vines out of sight of the monsters, gaining an orb of energy in the process.

“Alright then, Melina, strike as many times at vines as possible, do not get close to the plant man and the pitcher plant. You can slash at vines going after our main pair.” Naofumi nodded in satisfaction at the basic layout that would happen.

“Everyone go,” Naofumi said, having everyone rush out to start on their roles. Naofumi had to focus on multiple fronts, though Senka would be helping quite a bit.

“Right then.” Melina jumped on her spear and started flying, intermittently hopping off and doing slashes at the vines to gather up her combo and chasers.

Raphtalia mounted Filo and used her mobility to quickly get to the tree monster, though the two lesser being decided to try and interfere, to no avail as Naofumi brought their attention to him.

Eclair slashed some vines that were trying to attack him from behind, turning them into good firewood. Rino was also doing the same, though not to the ability that Eclair had done so. Senka was easily evading attacks from the pitcher, though still kept an eye on the situation around her.

“ **Air Strike Shield** ,” Naofumi said while having a platform for Filo to jump off of, the vines had cleared the way to try and make her fall. Melina who had built up a large collection of chasers was using them intermittently, frying any of them that tried to come too close.

“ **Shield Prison** ,” Naofumi used his other skill to protect the two from a wave of attacks, allowing Melina more time to finish that particular set of vines. It was wearing on the two girls as they forced themselves not to breathe in order to not be poisoned. He himself was able to breathe fine due to poison resistance from the shield.

“Milord!” Senka yelled as an attack got through due to the sluggish reaction time of the girls at their dropping performance. Naofumi was able to block the attack before having the two besides him to retreat in order to get some fresh air.

“We need to kill this flower head…” Naofumi mumbled as he blocked another spray of acid from the pitcher plant, allowing the  **Chimara Viper Shield** to attack it in return, very much like the  **Two-Headed Dog Shield** ’s bite counter.

Word Count: ~2900 Words

Date Completed: 12/31/2020

Note: And it is a cliffhanger. Though I do hope you all enjoyed the chapter. After the 1st of January and the new year, I will be switching back to my usual active posting, one every two days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Review Cove:
> 
> FFN
> 
> Arraia: Perfect and update soon please
> 
> Dragon dad naofumi?
> 
> Response: I have been posting 1 chapter a day for the past month… honestly I have no idea how to update sooner than this. And as for the dragon… well you will see it soon.
> 
> AO3:
> 
> Robbie2413: Eh, your update schedule is fine maybe a little too fast to my likening. I did spot some errors in it so maybe do it every 2-3 days instead of basically every day it seems like. Take a day to spellcheck then publish it. Or later I guess you could go back and edit your chapters I think that is a thing.
> 
> Response: I usually post every two days instead of every day, but it was December, and I decided to have it as a gift to my readers to post daily. I usually leave chapters as posted inorder to remind me to actually check my work, and I usually do a spell check before uploading, though I do miss things from time to time.


	24. Reclamation Merchant

A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero

Note 2: 

("Human/Speech")

(" _ Thoughts" _ )

**(Attacks/Weapon names)**

(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)

_ (Actions/POV) _

**_(Titles_ ** **/** **_Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)_ **

(Narration & Everything else)

**('Demonic Speech')**

**("Demonic Thoughts")**

**Hero And Fighter Chapter 24**

**_Village_ **

**_6/18/0000: 1330_ **

_ Third Person: Omni _

“As the source of thy power, I order thee. Hide my presence with darkness,  **Shadow’s Walk** .” Senka used one of her spells, probably the same one she used to get on the carriage, she immediately disappeared into some shadows of the tree.

“Let’s get this poison flower dealt with,” Naofumi said when the two sword users recovered enough for them to fight alongside him once more. They nod in understanding. Naofumi was still intermittently using his shield skills to support Filo and Raphtalia.

He blocked another set of acid projectiles from the pitcher plant with his shield while having the two behind him, allowing them to focus on the only plant that actually moved its main body.

They blurred into action with a flurry of quick footsteps, both of them syncing up in order to deliver a simultaneous dance of blades, leaving the large flower cut into pieces as gravity took its toll on the mass. It would still take a bit inorder to have the pollen settle.

The pitcher plant had tried to deviate a little bit and focus on the pair fighting the boss plant, though Naofumi was able to bring the attention back to his group of fighters with the use of the  _ Chimara Viper Shield _ after a round of acid attacks, the shield considered it an attack and swiftly countered as they were close enough now.

Eclair was the one with the most mobility out of the distracting force, weaving through acid splatters and unfocused vine attacks. Rino was closer to him so that he could provide better protection, she had nowhere near the practice Eclair had when fighting, so Naofumi had to offset that fact with his own ability.

Senka was going in and out of her shadow magic, each period of visible movement had her spraying herbicide onto the plant’s attacking vines, allowing the bird and raccoon pair more breathing room, though Naofumi could tell they were arguing about something.

“ **Air Strike Shield** !” Naofumi commanded, instead of a platform for the girls to jump off of, he placed this one right at the pitcher plant’s opening, stopping it from spitting acid out and giving an opening to exploit. 

He almost winced as the swords cut through the plant, not out of sympathy for the plants, no he was far more worried about the state of the swords after going through such a corrosive acid.

“Melina, burn all the branching vines, I have got an idea,” Naofumi commanded while remembering about when he used the herbicide and potion back at the medical tent, herbicide counted as a medicine when he used it on the villagers, he wondered if the effect of the sill worked even when not being used on a patient.

“Both of you, go help her and evade any plant attacks.” Raphtalia slashed out the eye inside the flower that had opened up while he was fighting the pitcher plant. It instantly regrew as she fell, though Filo was quick to get her away from danger. Naofumi already noticed that the vine attacks did no damage to him, just like the balloons at the start of his journey.

“Naofumi-Sama?!?” Raphtalia gasped when she finally got a look at her master who was just casually walking forward to the tree, every attack by the parasitic vines and bouts of vines that charged at him were deflected or just disintegrated after taking a few steps.

“Well then… it was good EXP for them at the very least,” Naofumi said with a sigh as he stood at the bottom of the tree, standing atop the exposed layer of roots, though it made no sense to do in irregular flora. He already got notifications of several level-ups from the party.

“Well then, let’s get rid of your current incarnation, may next time you be benevolent,” Naofumi remarked as he grabbed several bottles of herbicide from a pack strapped to his belt. Uncorking each one had the smell of the plant killer waft out, the plant boss was quick to respond by trying to attack him far more frantically.

Without any flourish he poured the contents of three bottles into the root system of the plant, like the acid would have done to them, the plant immediately melted with a hiss, the vines stopped in place as they wriggled in pain.

The killer produced by Naofumi immediately went up through the network of xylem, melting through the leaves and more fragile branches. The actual trunk would make some good construction materials, as the villagers certainly needed it when he looked and saw a ruined village.

The tree was quick to drop all of its fruit, a race preservation method, though he knew it would take a long time for them to actually grow from the seeds, he would have to make sure to gather all of them.

“Alright then, to make sure that we don’t have another monster invasion, we need to gather all the seeds and fruits.” The flower shriveled up, and like a sunflower, a large number of seeds fell out of the flower. They were dark green with a great luster, each of them was about half of his palm in diameter, about 3 inches when converted.

“Yes!” They all heard him, Senka was already off collecting the fruits by the time the rest of them went to gather the seeds that fell onto the ground. Naofumi already thought about how to store them considering the large quantity of plant material that they would have to deal with.

“Filo, go find some empty crates inside of the village,” Naofumi said before she went off with the rest of them to gather seeds, the large bird nodded before rushing off to do her assigned job. He walks over to the pieces of the two mini-bosses to unlock some shields, though he already placed a seed from the now known BioPlant.

“Hai, Master!” The bird was off in a cloud of dust. It was afternoon, and the gathering of all the plant material would take several hours, so it might be sunset or even night by the time they got back to the village with the crates.

(THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)

“That should do it.” He mumbled to himself as he placed the other two plants inside of the shield that was currently inside of her **BioPlant** **Shield** form. The mastery skill is **Plant Reform** , something to help fight the villagers’ food issue.

He could already see several parameters as he looked at a seed with the skill, though instead of testing it now without any thought, he decided to wait till he got a plant analysis ability from one of the other shields first.

“Naofumi-Sama, could you please help us?” Raphtalia spoke up when she saw him just standing there and looking at the legendary shield. He just shook the train of thoughts about the plant alteration, he would rather get something to analyze the plant first.

“Right, I am coming to help out,” Naofumi said while jogging over to the group of girls grabbing seeds and fruits, all of them placing in the recently delivered crate.

(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)

  
**_Village_ **

**_6/19/0000: 0630_ **

“Early morning wake up like usual huh,” Naofumi mumbled to himself as he looked at the shield resting on his arm. It consistently woke him up at 6:30 AM, in whatever timezone that they were in. It wasn’t unnatural like the abrupt sound of the alarm clock and left him wide awake to keep him from going back to sleep.

The others were not awake yet, usually waking up between 7 and 8 AM, with the exception of Melina and Senka, Melina waking up later and Senka waking up around the same time as him when they get a good rest and are not exhausted.

“Let’s get to work.” Not many of the villages would be up just yet, and the ones that were are probably inside helping the injured, it was only a day since the parasitic plant took root in the patients’ bodies after all.

“Show me your secrets…” Naofumi said with a good-natured smile as he held one of the seeds in his hands, a more robust stat screen showed itself to him. The stats were what he expected for a plant with the exception of Intelligence on first thought.

“Let’s change that now before anything else.” The plant itself had two skills as well,  **Mutation Range Expansion** and  **Last Chance Seed** . The latter skill was fine, but the mutation range expansion was the more pressing one.

The new screen displayed this:

Propagation: 9

Production: 9

Vitality: 9

Immunity: 4

Intelligence: 1

Growth: 9

Mutation: 9

Ability:

Mutation Range Expansion: Expands the effect of the mutation stat to the plants around this plant.

Last Chance Seed: When the plant is killed, drop at least one seed with original stats.

_____________________________________________________________

“Well then, I may as well do a stat change and a test before everyone wakes.” He looked through the other skill that he could pick from, settling on  **Quality Improvement** when compared to the more outrageous of the options, like  **Humanoid Body** ,  **Sentience,** or  **Dungeon Plant** .

He ended up editing it into this:

Propagation: 9 > 3

Production: 9 > 15

Vitality: 9 > 7

Immunity: 4 > 1

Intelligence: 1 > 1

Growth: 9 > 15

Mutation: 9 > 1

Ability:

Quality Improvement: Improves the quality of products from the plant. (New)

Fertilizing Root Network: Heals the soil and keeps it healthy. (New)

Last Chance Seed: When the plant is killed, drop at least one seed with original stats.

_____________________________________________________________

“Turns out the max points is 15,” Naofumi mumbled as he finished the adjustment, noting that he can't raise beyond the growth stat. He had found that other ability when looking through the list, considering the damage to the ground from the original BioPlant, it was nutrient-poor at the moment.

“That should keep them from worrying about the plant suddenly dying without looking at the soil.” He already knew that people who did not truly know how to farm would not check the soil, this would keep them from having to check on it too often.

“Milord,” Senka said while looking at him from the shadows. The others were slowly waking up now, Eclair would be up in a bit while dragging the other swords users to train, as they usually did whenever they could.

“Yeah I am doing a test, I have a bottle of herbicide to be safe.” Naofumi was thankful for the plant not having that high of an immunity or vitality level. She just nodded and silenced herself to observe the test he would be doing.

The seed was placed into the ground and covered in the topsoil, a quick sprouting of the modified plant showed itself to the world, it grew before their very eyes in the dawning of a new day. The stem browned and became a trunk, the original petals fell away as branches took their places, quickly sprouting leaves to breath through.

“Success.” Naofumi said with a smile as the first fruiting of the newly born tree budded. They all quickly changed to a deep crimson color with a far better luster than the ones that they picked up from the original cursed plant. Though now they would be using those to make some preserved foods for emergencies.

“Now I want to try creating more… though that will have to be saved for a later date.” Naofumi said with a sigh as they both stood from their crouching positions that were used to observe the newly created plant.

“But for now, when everyone wakes up, we will be altering another crate into this version of the plant… though hopefully they won’t be so foolish as to just only have this as a their crop” 

Naofumi had heard of the problems with the english farming style in the US, something that Des taught him in a passing conversation. Senka looked at the young man who was already thinking about the future of a village that would be out of his hands after leaves this world. He looked quite handsome with that serious but youthful face.

“Well, it is a good business proposition at the very least.” He said while stretching his body. They both heard light footsteps coming over to them. The rest of the party already knew that he was awake before even dawn.

“They look yummy.” Filo said with a smile as her eyes sparkled at the new fruit tree. It was still incredibly young, but the tree had quite a few fruits on its branches. Naofumi plucked one off for himself, making sure to wash it with some water from his canteen.

“Sweet, slightly sour… the texture is more chewy than a firm fruit like apple. It tastes like apple…” Naofumi was already analyzing the plant, trying to think up a recipe that would use it’s fruit. Of course turning it into a jam came to mind, and it did store extremely well, the containers to store it however, were not as quickly obtainable in Melomarc.

“Well then, I hope they have glass jars.” Naofumi said in a joking manner as he knew glass was being monopolized by the church to make stained glass, though he wondered if there were anyone who would be able to make him some.

“Alright then, it is time for team sparing while we wait for the villagers to get up.” Naofumi said with a smile, the girls all nodded.

(THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)

“I curbed its ability to propagate and it’s mutation potential while increasing yield and growth. It will also keep the soil more fertile. So you will get quite an amount of fruit from it without it turning into a monster.” The villagers were gathered in a circle around the guest group.

“You will not experience another famine as long as you take care of it and any other crops, livestock, and the earth down the line.” His face was serious as he said so, making sure to look at all of them with a gaze that said to tend to it properly, the farmers got what he ment immediately with a sheepish expression on their faces.

“Thank you Sir Hero, you not only saved us from danger but are giving us such a wonderful gift.” Naofumi already had an annoyed expression slide onto his face at the choice of words the elder said, the more observant of the villagers face palmed at their leaders stupidity, he should have known that the Hero would not just give them everything.

“Okay, remember to not assume anything. I spent my time here to sell products, mainly herbicide. I did not use my entire stock so I did not charge you the entire amount. That would be a loss to my profits. I also went out and killed the BioPlant along with two other monsters, you paid for that so it won’t count in my explanation. These seeds and that plant are things created by myself with time and effort.”

All the girls had already heard his lecture about their money situation, due to what they were doing, it took alot of money to fight in the waves properly, they have been mainly getting by on his ability to get materials and his own crafting skills.

“So I will be selling them, of course subtracting the amount of coin the original seeds would have cost.” Naofumi explained with folded arms. The smarter villagers already knew that Naofumi was not after their coin right now, as they had noe.

“We already gave you all our money for the extermination, treatement and herbicide.” Naofumi had already thought of it.

“The amount not used will be treated as a return of an unused item and thus will be given back 50 percent of cost on unused herbicide, this will take place before I leave the village. You can pay for the seeds via goods to fill the rest of the gap.”

“But we gave all we had…” The villager said before looking over to the fruits that had been harvested from the original bioplant, they still had seeds inside of them, and they could not really do anything with them either.

“How much can we get from half of the fruit.” The village elder asked while gesturing to the baskets of the stuff. Naofumi thought about it, it had unedited seeds along with good flesh from what Filo told him.

“You can get two crates of the modified seeds and a batch of herbicide as a preventative measure.” He did the quick calculation, he also including the herbicide into the cost, from this point he would get a good profit all tings considered.

“Right, we will get this all loaded into your carriage.” The man motioned for the able bodied adults to go and get the fruits. Naofumi would be making dried fruits after seeding them.

“And that is how you negotiate them into the way you want.” Naofumi said to Eclair, as the noble of the group, it is good to learn this now rather than later. She nodded in understanding as she looked at the relieved villagers.

“Naofumi-Sama, the egg is cracking!” Raphtalia announced, drawing the attention of Naofumi, drawing him the cart and to the mystery egg inside.

Number Of Words ~2900

Date Completed: 2/3/2021

Note: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, a bit late but still on date, hopefully, I can get back into stride. You can see my announcements in my discord. Due to the large amount of text in the review cove, It will be placed in the main chapter. I am sorry about the bloating of word count.

Review Cove:

FFN: 

Leonard lemon3891:This story is actually very good even with the misspelling but understandable. I have actually been wanting to ask cuz I'm quite confused. First, who is Desmond and Reimu? And how is this guy acquainted with Naofumi? Second, if you say that Melina is from Dungeon Fighter Online(DFO) the game that you've told about. Is she really Naofumi's created avatar? Cuz

Response: After the "Cuz", the rest of the comment is cut off. Desmond is my OC from another Fic of mine, Reimu is a character from the fandom that Fic is a part of. It is to say, that I connected the multiverse together for it.

Leonard lemon3891: Oooookay..... I kinda have forgotten what I have wrote on my second comment..... Uhhh.... Ok how about you give me the name of the fic where Desmond is from? And a little spoiler pls. How is he acquainted with Naofumi? Cuzzz in the the story it sounds like Desmond and Naofumi had quite past with each other. Aaaand I just remembered one thing. Can you tell me how many people are in Naofumi's party right now? You've been Time skipping in the story so I got confused with both the names and their appearance.

Aaand just when the heck did Naofumi went to get those girls??? --- (don't need to answer this if it's gonna give spoiler.) also, Uhh sorry I think I said the wrong stuff. I actually got confused on how did he go and met the girls.

Response: A Retired Officer's Shop In The Eastern Wonderland. Desmond is a games shop owner and happened to play with Naofumi by chance, they also went to IRL events together with their group, but that is way in the future of AROSITEW that I haven't written it. Currently, Naofumi's party contains, Raphtalia, Senka, Melina, Filo, Rino, Eclair. As for the last two, Rino was bought from the slaver due to the Shadows' interference and Eclair was taken from the dungeon before repairing Lute, though I will be doing a flashback for both later on.

  
  


helrio uzugaku: Not bad, not bad at all.

A past reviewer commented on a few similarities to another fic "shall I show you a true shield?" I can understand where the comparison came from. But there's also a uniqueness here that can't be denied. The thing about stories, not just fanfics, but all story material is in one shape or form inspired by and rehashed to form something original.

In the above mentioned story I've seen a holy shield being used to oppose the necessity of using the rage shield. But not a holy shield that grants a passive resistance to curses. I personally enjoy that tidbit.

Something I'm hoping to see more on is what was written in that scroll by the queen during the race. It obviously had something to do with ownership or lordship of lute village. If bitch, yes that is the name I officially know her as, reacted the way she did it stands to reason that the queen decreed Naofumi as the new lord of lute. As added evidence of this theory, bitch specifically said "shield hero, fight us FOR THE RULE OF THIS VILLAGE." Which implies that Naofumi has a solid claim of lordship over lute which can be disputed by another royal.

Of course that is just a theory until we know exactly what was written on the parchment. I think it would actually fit fairly well with the story if it did happen.

Naofumi could leave the actual ruling to the old lord and turn the village into a place of trade so he can have a constant source of income. Especially if he took the time to teach a few people how to cook and craft using the metal they mine. I could see it becoming a fairly popular trade center. Of course, if they also had trade with this newest village that will come out with a plant that literally solves world hunger, a concept of effort that was seriously underappreciated I'd like to add, how much could a plant like that actually be worth? Think about it for a second, a plant that grows within minutes of being planted and watered, bears fruit seconds to minutes after full maturity, and if that wasn't aweinspiring enough the plant bears multiple fruits at once.

The only thing that could make them more value was if they were the single most delicious fruit in existence and they never spoil. But that would be too much.

Let's also not forget what that would do to prices in food. Food prices would deflate rapidly for fruits because their so easily available. This is going under the assumption they would sell the seeds in the first place.

Response: Shall I Show You A True Shield inspired me to write this after all, so it’s influences will show. I actually got the idea for the Shield Of Blessings from the Shield of Compassion directly locking out the Wrath Series, While weaker, the shields will give a bit of protection than what would have happened without.

About Naofumi becoming a lord… Well technically he is… or atleast will be when the good Queen finally gets the letters sent by him and the results from the shadows.

My version of the plant is slightly weaker on the propagation side, though it is far more valuable than other plants. But it can’t cover all the needs of the people, much like how they can not survive on bread alone without serious repercussions to health. But it would also be used in feeding livestock, feeding the homeless, the poor, etc. It also isn’t fully grown either, so as time passes, the yield grows… if they can harvest it of course.

As for economics talk… I’ll leave that for later in the fic.

Archive Of Our Own:

havefeith: Ah, that explains why there hasn't been any updates on this. Gotcha. I was almost starting to get worried, but then I decided to check back on this chapter, and see if there was a reason for it.

Now, on a separate note. I tried downloading DFO, but got my account "Blocked by an Administrator" while trying to download the game itself. I have to deal with downloading the remaining 4k items, while on a wireless connection that has me downloading at about 300-800 kbps at max. Most often it's at 300kbps. I haven't even had a chance to get into the game. They really need to fix the bot admin's sensitivity. At most, all it would've detected was my Wallpaper Engine. That's the only third party program I would ever have running in the background while downloading the game. I'd even went and signed up for the suggested 2 step verification. Couldn't do Goblin Pin, because that's only in-game, best I could tell.

Response: For DFO to do that… I honestly have no idea, the main thing I can say is contact Neople. Though this comment is a month late. I got a reply when I was in my active period (They block players from playing if they have not been active for a while) within a week. Though this is a month late now.

Robbie2413: And now they clean up that plant mess. After this should be the hot springs then the zombie dragon then checking on Itsuki. Wonder what you will change hehe.

Response: A surprise like usual.

Phara: Nice, even though I don't know a thing about DFO that was still good, wish you've done more changes from the original plot of shield hero but still fine.

Rather disappointed that you basically threw Eclair and Rino in without any introduction. It's fine if you don't want to spend too much time on presenting the new character but that's too much, Rino literally appeared ouf of nowhere.

Also good to see a fellow Azur Lane fan :)

Response: I will be showing the way Rino got into Naofumi’s party when they actually talk to Motoyasu, though the text message from chapter 21 had “It showed a young woman with green hair and blue eyes. She looked quite distraught. He quickly read over what it said, finding out she would be sold as a slave and where to find her.” in it.

On another note, I forgot to do the final prep stuff before maintenance as I am writing this.

(From the same comment from Phara) havefeith: You do know who Rino is, right? Pretty sure there was a bit of text in one of the previous chapters suggesting she was at the Slave Trader's place.

Phara: That must've been a really small piece of text cause I don't remember it.

Response: Yep, It was a small little tidbit that will be expanded upon, the main reason why she was just put into there was due to the fact that Naofumi would not be in Castle Town in quite a while, so I had to shove her in before he left for his longer journey.


End file.
